UPDATE 10/28: Elon Musk has completed his acquisition of Twitter, according to a filing with the SEC. On Twitter, the Tesla CEO has also tweeted: "The bird is freed."
Original story:
Following months of legal jousting and negotiations, Elon Musk is now the official owner of Twitter, according to multiple reports.
Musk took control of the social media company late on Thursday by completing the $44 billion acquisition, according to CNBC and The Washington PostThe Washington Post, which cite unnamed sources.
His first moves as Twitter’s new owner included firing the company’s top leadership, including CEO Parag Agrawal, who faced trolling from Musk himself over how the platform counts spam accounts.
Musk also fired Vijaya Gadde, the company’s head of legal, policy, and trust. Gadde was a key executive who reportedly pushed for Twitter to permanently ban former President Donald Trump from Twitter over his role in the January 6th Capitol attack in Washington, DC. Musk said he plans on reversing the ban on Trump and reining in the content moderation over the platform once he takes over.
In addition, Musk fired Twitter CFO Neg Segal and general counsel Sean Edgett, according to the Post. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The executive shakeup signals big changes coming for Twitter while raising major questions about who will lead the social media company. Musk’s goal for Twitter is for the platform to prioritize free speech and eventually become a super app, which can also be used for messaging and to make online payments.
However, on Thursday morning, he also struck a conciliatory tone with advertisers weary about an overhaul. "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” he wrote in a tweet to advertisers.
Musk added he wants Twitter to become “a common digital town square, where a range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”