Multiple outlets reported on Thursday evening that Musk has finalised the deal, capping a chaotic saga that began when the billionaire first announced his plans to purchase the company in April. While there was no official statement from Musk, he tweeted “the bird is freed”.
Elon Musk has reportedly completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, taking control of the company and firing several of the executives including the CEO Parag Agrawal.
Multiple outlets reported on Thursday evening that Musk has finalised the deal, capping a chaotic saga that began when the billionaire first announced his plans to purchase the company in April. While there was no official statement from Musk, he tweeted “the bird is freed”.
According to The Guardian UK, Shortly after taking control of Twitter, Musk reportedly ousted several senior figures, including chief executive Agrawal, Ned Segal, the chief financial officer, and Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal policy, trust and safety.
According to people familiar with the matter, the billionaire accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform, Reuters reports.
Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and they were escorted out.
The reported firings follow news that Musk planned to eliminate nearly 75% of Twitter’s staff in an effort to pay down the company’s debt. Musk later dismissed those reports, telling employees he would not cut such a large portion of the staff.
A sense of confusion hung over the deal on Thursday night, however, with neither Twitter nor Musk immediately confirming the firings. Musk, who had earlier changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”, did not mention the dismissals after the news broke.
Twitter now enters a new chapter, with questions hanging over what Musk plans to do with a platform that plays an outsized role in the political and media landscape due to its following among journalists, commentators, celebrities and politicians.
Musk paid a visit to the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday, carrying a sink and visiting with the staff. He has said he is purchasing the company “to try to help humanity”.
“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,” he said in a tweet earlier on Thursday.
Thursday’s late-night shakeup comes ahead of a Friday deadline to complete the purchase of the company, and will give the world’s richest man control of an influential social media platform with more than 230 million users.
Musk initially attempted to walk away from a deal to buy the company in May, beginning a months-long standoff that was due to go to court before Musk made a dramatic U-turn and offered to purchase the company after all.
Musk became embroiled in a row with the company over the number of spam accounts on its platform, leading him to announce in July he was walking away from the transaction.
Twitter then sued Musk in Delaware, where the company is incorporated, to demand that he close the deal. Following a surprise change of mind by Musk as a court date approached, a Delaware judge then gave both sides until 28 October to close the deal.
Throughout the back-and-forth, Musk regularly clashed with senior figures at Twitter, including Agrawal and Gadde.