Elon Musk is expected to complete his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on 28 October, putting him in charge of one of the most popular social networks in the world. He has changed his Twitter bio to "Chief Twit" and is starting to officially take over the company - and has even carried a sink into the headquarters to let that "sink in" for all.
Entering Twitter HQ â€" let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
â€" Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
According to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, by taking the reins, he has fired CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and other top executives such as the company's policy official, Vijaya Gadde, and its general counsel, Sean Edgett. The New York Times reported that "at least one" executive was escorted from Twitter's office on 27 October. Musk had been publicly critical of Twitter's leadership as well as Agrawal.
The billionaire entrepreneur first offered to buy Twitter in April, before putting the acquisition "on hold" weeks later. Musk declined to do due diligence before his offer and was concerned about the number of bots and fake accounts on the social network. Twitter suggested Musk was trying to get out of the deal.
Musk went to Twitter's headquarters to meet with employees and reportedly brought in Tesla engineers to "assess" Twitter's code, according to Bloomberg.
Musk wants to peel back Twitter's moderation rules and has said he isn't in favour of permanent bans. He wants to "open source' Twitter's algorithm, too, so users can better understand the site. But he's also reassured advertisers he doesn't want the social network to be a "free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequence". He's also said Twitter should be the "most respected advertising platform in the world" and has discussed making it into a WeChat-like app or "everything app".
Musk will likely lay off many employees - as much as 75 per cent - as he executes these drastic changes across the company and platform.
Update: Bloomberg reported early in the morning on 28 October that Musk plans to become chief executive officer at Twitter, replacing Agrawal. He may eventually relinquish the role in the longer term. The report also said Musk plans to "reverse life bans", which means Donald J Trump could return to the site ahead of the 2024 US Presidential elections.
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