On Oct 28 Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share
On Friday, Elon Musk finalized his $44 billion purchase of Twitter Inc. His first action was to dismiss the company’s senior leadership, whom he believed were lying to him about the quantity of spam accounts on the platform.
At least four high-ranking Twitter executives were removed, including the CEO and CFO.
Musk visited Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters to meet workers, including engineers and ad executives.
Among the high ranking Twitter executives Musk terminated:
- Chief executive Parag Agrawal
- Chief financial officer Ned Segal
- Policy chief Vijaya Gadde
Elon Musk’s $44-billion acquisition has ended up being a remarkable saga, filled with turns and twists, in which doubt was sown as to whether he would finish it.
Some Republicans have celebrated the acquisition, claiming that Twitter censored conservative viewpoints. Scientists have stated that Twitter’s rules have been crucial in combating online hate speech and disinformation.
Musk has also pledged sweeping alterations at Twitter, including new leadership, workforce reductions, and the pursuit of fresh ways to generate revenue.
Twitter, which is headquartered in San Francisco and employs over 7,500 people, has had difficulty consistently growing its advertising-based business and recruiting new users.
The termination of top company executives on Thursday was a sign that Mr. Musk intended to move swiftly and expand on Twitters advertising revenue
Twitter’s board hailed the deal’s completion as a triumph.
In April, when Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, the company was faced with criticism for accepting a price that was considered too low. However, as the global economy weakened in the subsequent months and Twitter’s stock fell, the deal appeared to have been favourable to shareholders and the board wanted to make sure that Musk abided by the agreement.
In a statement to the Nytimes in April Musk said “Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it”
Musk, one of Twitter’s most active users with more than 109 million followers, began accumulating shares in the company this year.
The toxicity and inaccuracy of online content could be exacerbated by Elon Musk’s open approach to speech on Twitter, which is used worldwide.
Early tests are expected to come within days, when American voters go to the polls on Nov. 8 for the midterm elections.
Twitter says it would prohibit misleading claims about voting and the outcome of elections, but that was before Mr. Musk owned it.
