Elon Musk has spent months criticizing Twitter for everything from its management to its prevalence of phony users. Now he needs to figure out how to fix its business as advertiser spending evaporates.

Musk’s decision to reverse course and offer to complete his $44 billion purchase of Twitter according to the original terms could mean he will be taking charge of the social media company as soon as next week. Once he takes the reins, Musk will have to deal with a company that’s grappling with an economic slowdown, likely forcing him to make aggressive cuts to reduce Twitter’s costs.

Longer term, to both pay down the debt he is taking on and generate the sizable return his backers expect, he will have to make Twitter much more profitable than it has been. He signaled his thinking in a text message exchange with Twitter chair Bret Taylor, disclosed in court filings last week, when he said: “It is better, in my opinion, to take Twitter private, restructure, and return to the public markets once that is done.”