Musk is willing to try anything he can to help the social media platform turn a profit.
Musk wants to charge a fee for a blue checkmark on users' accounts. People on the platform are willing to pay for the new service, even though it has received backlash from a variety of prominent users.
How many?
According to its July earnings report, the company needs to make $344 million in revenue per month in order to cover its operating losses.
In his first email to employees, Musk said that half of the company's revenue would come from subscriptions.
It's difficult to say how much advertising revenue will come in, as companies are pausing campaigns on social media.
Thousands of layoffs and multi- million dollar exit packages for departing executives are complicated by the financial projections.
It seems clear that Musk is dependent on a large number of people to purchase subscriptions.
It could be difficult.
At the end of October, Musk ally and reported newTwitter advisor Jason Calacanis posted a poll asking how much money, if any, users would be willing to pay to be verified.
Almost 371,000 people said they'd pay at least some amount for a subscription when they responded to the survey.
The poll is not representative of all users of the micro-messaging service. A 10% sign up for a subscription service is the best-case scenario according to Daniel Ives.
The company said in its July earnings report that it had 237.8 million daily active users. If everything goes Musk's way, it will happen.
He says the subscription plan is an absolute disaster. This is similar to charging $3 for bread at restaurants that you've got for free for the last 10 years.
Musk's changes to the company's workforce and the experience of usingTwitter itself run the risk of driving away users and business partners
Several prominent users have decided to leave the platform rather than pay to maintain their blue checkmarks. They are trying out competitors like Mastodon. CNBC made a request for comment fromTwitter, but they did not respond immediately.
It will be persuading advertisers to return to the platform that is the biggest obstacle to profitability. The layoffs will make it more difficult for the company to drive new initiatives because they need more engineers and developers.
It's going to get worse before it gets better.
The CNBC Make It: Your Money virtual event will take place on December 13 at 12 p.m. Kevin O'Leary is a money master and you can learn from him.
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