Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, declaring triumphantly that “the bird is liberated” while firing many key executives.
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
According to MailOnline, his next move will be to reinstate Twitter users who have been banned from the platform for life, including former President Donald Trump.
Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, its CFO, Ned Segal, and its top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, were all fired hours after Musk finalised the $44 billion deal. Agrawal, who has repeatedly clashed with Musk over the number of users on Twitter, will reportedly leave the company with $42 million after serving as CEO for just under a year.
Insider reported that Gadde, who earned $17 million in 2021, has been paid $12.5 million, and Segal, the man behind Trump’s ban, will receive $25.4 million. Sean Edgett, the company’s general counsel, and Sarah Personette, chief customer officer, were also let go.
According to Bloomberg, Musk will take over as CEO, though this may be an interim position.
On Friday, billionaire Musk will hold a company-wide meeting.
Twitter’s engineers were reportedly unable to make code changes as of noon Thursday in San Francisco, as part of an effort to ensure that nothing about the product changed before the deal closed. Musk previously stated his dissatisfaction with Twitter’s management and threatened to fire 75% of the company’s employees.
Musk changed his Twitter handle to ‘Chief Twit’ on Wednesday and posted a video of himself carrying a porcelain sink into the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
Earlier on Thursday, Musk warned advertisers that Twitter cannot become a “hellscape” under his ownership.
On Thursday morning, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted to advertisers that while he wants the social media giant to become a “digital town square,” it “obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.”
“Our platform must be warm and welcoming to all,” he wrote, “where you can choose your desired experience based on your preferences, just as you can choose to see movies or play video games from all ages to mature.”
Musk also disclosed his “”There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising,” he says of his motivation for purchasing the company. The majority of it is incorrect.”
He stated that he bought the company “because it is critical to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square where a diverse range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”
Musk told Twitter employees in June that he intends to relax content moderation standards, which he claims violate free speech, and restore Trump’s account as soon as he takes over the company.
