Elon continually seems to not get that the real value of Twitter is the users. If he continues to annoy the people who are making the actual content, that content will go away (or get so bad it might as well go away)! Verifying users is not a feature for the verified users; it's so that other users know they can believe this message is actually from who it purports to be.
Searching the vast trove of tweets is useful because it gives you access to thoughts on a topic from anyone. Restricting access to that makes it less valuable.