New Twitter CEO Elon Musk is reportedly set to start charging users $20 per month to be verified on the platform in what is expected to be a new package the social media company is set to offer.
The Verge reported that the “directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users,” according to sources and documents the publication accessed.
While pricing is subject to change, the plan is to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue.
The report said that people with existing verified accounts will have 90 days to sign up for the new $19.99 package or they will lose their verification badge.
The report said that Musk has informed employees that they must meet the deadline to launch the new product by the end of the first week in November or they will be fired.
Musk tweeted on Sunday evening, “The whole verification process is being revamped right now.”
Musk is reportedly set to cut up to 50% of the work force at Twitter in the very near future after taking over the company late last week.
The New York Times reported that Musk “ordered the cuts across the company, with some teams to be trimmed more than others,” adding that “some managers [were] being asked to draw up lists of employees to cut.”
Musk acquired the company Thursday after his $44 billion purchase was finalized following a drama-filled six-month process that saw him try to back out at the last moment.
Ross Gerber, the chief executive of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, said he was told by a top official from Musk’s team that major layoffs were coming to the workforce of 7,500 people.
“I was told to expect somewhere around 50 percent of people will be laid off,” Gerber said.
The layoffs are reportedly set to happen before employees were scheduled to get stock grants as part of their compensation, the report added.
Reports circulated this week that Musk was planning to cut up to 75% of the workforce, although he reportedly pushed back on the notion that the number would be that high.
Musk began his new reign at the company by firing leftist CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety, The Washington Post reported. The report said Musk also fired the company’s general counsel, Sean Edgett, who was escorted out of the building.
This report has been updated to include additional information.