Musk takes over Twitter with ‘the bird is freed’ tweet

NEW YORK: Elon Musk took control of Twitter, dismissed senior management and immediately began reshaping strategy at one of the world’s most influential social media platforms as his $44 billion take-private deal closed on Friday.

Musk, 51, intends to replace Parag Agrawal, who was fired along with three other top executives, a person familiar with the matter told news agency Bloomberg, asking not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. The entrepreneur, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX, may eventually cede the Twitter CEO role in the longer term, the person added. Twitter representatives declined to comment.

“The bird is freed,” he tweeted after he completed the acquisition on Thursday, referencing Twitter’s bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted.

Musk’s acquisition puts the world’s richest man in charge of a struggling social network after six months of public and legal wrangling. Among Musk’s first moves: changing the leadership. Departures include Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy and trust; chief financial officer Ned Segal, who joined Twitter in 2017; and Sean Edgett, who has been general counsel at Twitter since 2012. Edgett was escorted out of the building, Bloomberg News reported. Mere hours after