Elon Musk began his Twitter ownership by terminating Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde
Elon Musk became Twitter's new owner on Thursday, firing top executives he had accused of misleading him and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.
Why Elon Musk Fired Parag Agarwal
The CEO of Tesla has said he wants to "defeat" spam bots on Twitter, make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available, and prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division, even as he limits censorship.
Yet Mr. Elon Musk has not offered details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company. He has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter's approximately 7,500 employees fretting about their future. He also spoke on Thursday that he did not buy Twitter to make more money but "to try to help humanity, whom I love."
Mr. Musk terminated Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.
The Takeover Stories:
The $44-billion acquisition is the most remarkable takeover, full of twists and turns, that have doubt over whether Mr. Musk would complete the deal. It began on April 4, when Mr. Musk disclosed a 9.2% stake in the San Francisco company, making him its largest shareholder.
The world's richest person then agreed to join Twitter's board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share, an offer that Twitter was unsure whether to interpret as another of Musk's jokes.
Mr. Musk's offer was genuine, and over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reached a deal at the price he suggested. This happened without Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company's confidential information, as is customary in an acquisition.
Elon's Bio changes:
Since then, Elon Musk has been involved in the deal hype. He walked into Twitter's headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and carrying a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting "let that sink in." He changed his description in his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit."
Elon Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a "super app" that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.
"The long-term potential for Twitter in my view is an order of magnitude greater than its current value," Mr. Musk said on Tesla's call with analysts on Oct 19.
But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These "heavy tweeters" account for less than 10% of monthly overall users but generate 90% of all tweets and half of global revenue.
Mr. Musk said in May he would reverse the ban on Donald Trump, who was removed after the attack on the U. S. Capitol, although the former U. S. President Donald Trump has said he won't return to the platform. He has instead launched his own social media app, Truth Social.
