Elon Musk Now Charging Brands $1,000/Month for Gold Checkmarks

The days of being verified for free on Twitter are coming to an end -- which goes for corporate accounts too ... who'll have pay a pretty penny for their verification status.

A new report from The Information suggests Elon Musk and co. are rolling out a new payment plan option for companies/brands who want to hold on to their gold checkmark ... which, up until now, was free if they were of note or importance.

Another separate reporter, Matt Navarra, appeared to confirm Twitter's plans ... which include charging business accounts $1,000 per month if they want to stay verified. Any affiliate accounts under the bigger corporate account will cost an additional $50/month.

They're calling the program Verified for Organizations, and it sounds like they're reaching out to brands now to get them onboard early. If they refuse to pony up, they'll lose their gold check and look like any other unverified Twitter user. It's unclear when this goes into effect.

It doesn't seem this new subscription plan applies to media companies, which would be at risk of phony accounts popping up and posing as them ... thus, spreading fake news.

On the contrary, this looks to be aimed more so at straight up corporations -- like Target, Bank of America, etc. -- that are strictly in the business of selling goods and services ... and turning a profit. It also sounds like a ploy to make quick cash, which Twitter reportedly really needs these days -- with mounting lawsuits from all ends and ongoing staff shortages.

Of course, this is just the latest money-making gimmick from Elon. In addition to this, he's still desperately trying to get people to sign up for Twitter Blue any way he can -- which is $8/month and guarantees virtual nobodies a blue checkmark, for whatever that's worth.

Meanwhile, tons of old legacy accounts -- like journos/other people of note -- continue to rock their blue checkmarks (for free, it seems) and public officials now have grey checks.