San Francisco : Elon Musk took control of Twitter and fired its top executives, US media reported late Thursday, in a deal that puts one of the top platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world’s richest man.
Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company’s chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported citing unnamed sources.
Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape.
The reports came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.
Musk tweeted on Thursday that he was buying Twitter “because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”
The billionaire even shared a picture of himself socializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters.
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Agrawal received $38.7 million, Segal got $25.4 million, Gadde got $12.5 million, and Personette received $11.2 million, according to Insider.
Musk’s entrepreneur friend Jason Calacanis said: “Day zero. Sharpen your blades boys.”
“Seems like the twitter servers are still up and running!” Calacanis added.
“Twitter CEO is my dream job,” he had told Musk earlier.
Musk on Thursday told advertisers why he is finally acquiring Twitter, telling them that he wants the platform to be the most respected advertising platform in the world where users can see movies or play video games, ranging from all ages to mature.
In a letter to advertisers, he said that Twitter cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.
“In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature,” Musk wrote to his more than 110 million followers.
He said that the reason he acquired Twitter is because “it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence”.
He visited Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday, with a kitchen sink in his hands.
