Elon Musk claims Twitter ‘not on the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore’

Elon Musk has spoken about Twitter’s financial situation, saying that the company is "not on the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore".

The billionaire CEO took over the social media platform in October after purchasing it for $44bn (£38bn).

Musk said there is "still much work to do" after the company endured a chaotic start under his leadership, with the platform introducing an $8 Twitter verification badge and firing half of its workers.

The 51-year-old previously warned Twitter employees that the company may not "survive the upcoming economic downturn" – but he was more optimistic in a new interview.

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Speaking on the All-In podcast, Musk said: "It has been quite a rollercoaster… It has its highs and lows, to say the least, but overall it seems to be going in a good direction.

"We've got the expenses reasonably under control, so the company's not on the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore."

He later tweeted: "Twitter isn't secure yet, just not in the fast lane to bankruptcy. Still much work to do."

Musk also spoke about the running of the company in the podcast and promised there would be “fewer gaffes”.

"If you're going to swing for the fences, you're going to strike out a bit more. But we're going to swing for the fences here at Twitter, and we're going to do it quickly,” he said.

"My error rate and sort of being the chief twit will be less over time but, in the beginning, we'll make a lot more mistakes because I'm new. Hey, I just got here, man.

Musk is sounding more positive about the outlook of Twitter's financesPatrick Pleul / POOL / AFP via Getty

"If you look at the actual amount of improvement that has happened at Twitter in terms of having costs that aren't insane and shipping product that, on balance, is good, I think that's great - we're executing well and getting things done."

It comes after millions of Twitter users asked him to quit in a poll the billionaire himself posted and promised to stick to. The poll attracted more than 17 million voters in just 12 hours, with 57.5 per cent voting “Yes”.

Musk later said that he plans on remaining as Twitter's CEO until he can find someone willing to replace him in the job.

“I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” Musk tweeted. “After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”