Elon Musk has completed his $ 44 billion (£ 38 billion) acquisition of Twitter after months of spinning headlong into the deal.
His first move was to fire the top management of the social media company, which he accused of misleading him about the number of spam accounts on the platform.
Moss fired of Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and Chief Legal Affairs and Policy Officer Vijaya Gadde, according to reports.
It was also alleged that Agrawal and Segal were at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal ended and were escorted out of the building.
Musk later tweeted “the bird was released” in a nod to the completion of the deal.
The founder of Tesla and SpaceX was given an October 28 deadline to close the deal to avoid going to trial, after the social media company sued him for trying to rip his original offer made in April.
Musk and Twitter were supposed to go to court on October 17, but was dismissed after the richest man in the world said he would. go ahead with the purchase after all.
Earlier this week, Musk posted a bizarre video of himself walk into Twitter’s San Francisco office carrying a sink next to the message: “Enter Twitter HQ – let it sink.”
Musk, who updated his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”, said Thursday that he didn’t buy the social media platform to make more money but “to try and help humanity, which I love.”
It says it wants to “defeat” Twitter spam bots, make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available, and prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber of hatred and division, even if it limits censorship.
He hasn’t offered details on how he’ll make these wishes and who will manage the company – and he’s been vague about his plans so far.
According to reports, Musk told staff during his visit that it wasn’t true that he planned to cut up to 75% of Twitter’s staff after he acquired the company.
It was previously reported that Musk had told investors he hoped to cut about three-quarters of the company’s 7,500 employees.
In other plans, the outspoken billionaire has also repeatedly referred to a “super app”, which he has tentatively dubbed “X”.
The concept has drawn comparisons with Chinese WeChatwhich combines familiar features like messaging, a marketplace, and Twitter-style public posts in one place.
Read more:
Super app or Wild West? The future of Twitter under Elon Musk
Musk told investors he plans to sell premium subscriptions to users to reduce ad addiction, allow content creators to make money and enable payments, according to the Reuters news agency.
Elsewhere, there are fears that its plans to cut down on content moderation will lead to a deluge of hateful, harmful and potentially illegal content on Twitter.
He previously spoke of his belief in “absolute freedom of speech” and hinted that he would allow suspended and often controversial figures, such as former US President Donald Trump, to return to the platform.
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‘Let it sink’
Experts have warned that the profligate stance of the richest man in the world on moderation could be one avenue to make the “worst” trolls in the service thriveturning Twitter into a “Wild West” where anything is allowed.
The October 28 deadline was to give Musk time to fund the deal. Had he not been satisfied, a judge in Delaware – the US state where Twitter is incorporated – would have arranged a trial for November.
End months of bad blood between the two sides regarding the acquisition, with Musk complains about fake accounts on the platform and complaints from a whistleblower that Twitter deceived regulators on security risks.
It also emerged earlier this month that Musk is investigated by federal authorities about his conduct.
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