ELON’S BIG BIRD NOW
Takes over Twitter, ousts CEO and other execs
Elon Musk finally completed his $44 billion Twitter takeover deal, firing the company’s CEO and financial chief and ending a lengthy tug-of-war with its board of directors just before a key deadline, according to a source close to the situation.
Musk took the struggling social network private Thursday night, ousting Chief Executive Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bloomberg News reported early Friday that Musk plans to take over as Twitter’s CEO — at least on an interim basis. It wasn’t immediately clear who would replace Segal as CFO.
Musk also fired Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s top legal and policy executive, and Sean Edgett, general counsel, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, sources said. Musk had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.
The agreement between Musk’s legal team and Twitter’s board was reached less than a day before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline imposed by Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick. Without a deal, Musk and Twitter would have clashed on opposite sides of a November trial.
Under the deal’s terms, Musk will buy Twitter at the originally agreed price of $54.20 per share. Musk had vowed to take the company private and reshape the platform with an emphasis on free speech.
Reps for Musk and Twitter officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Musk has said he plans to hold a companywide town hall on Friday.
Musk signaled throughout the week that he intended to finalize the takeover deal. The eccentric billionaire changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” and posted a video of himself barging into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters carrying a sink.
Musk’s involvement has renewed handwringing from Twitter employees who fear he will enact sweeping layoffs and other cost-cutting measures while reshaping the company’s business.
The Tesla boss took steps to assure skeptics. During his office visit, Musk said he had no intention of slashing 75% of Twitter’s workforce upon taking control, as The Washington Post had reported.
Musk also posted a lengthy message to Twitter’s advertisers, writing that he had no intention of turning the social media platform into a “free-for-all hellscape.” Critics had suggested that Musk’s aggressive stance on free speech would enable extremist voices to thrive on the platform.
“The reason I 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,” Musk said.