Elon Musk has assumed control of Twitter Inc. with harsh efficiency, sacking key executives without delay, but with little explanation of how he plans to carry out the aspirational goals he has set forth for the significant social media network.
He tweeted “The bird is liberated” after completing his $44 billion acquisition on Thursday, making obvious reference to his wish to see Twitter loosen its restrictions on what can be written.
The CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and self-described free speech absolutist has, however, also said he wants to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division.
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Other goals include wanting to “defeat” spam bots on Twitter and make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available.
Yet Musk has not offered details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company. He has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter’s 7,500 employees fretting about their future. He also said on Thursday he did not buy Twitter to make more money but “to try to help humanity, whom I love.”
Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources added.
Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, plans to become Twitter’s CEO after completing the acquisition and also plans to scrap permanent bans on users, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
‘CHIEF TWIT’
Before closing the deal, Musk walked into Twitter’s headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting “let that sink in.” He changed his Twitter profile description to “Chief Twit.”
Additionally, he attempted to allay employee concerns about impending mass layoffs and gave advertisers assurances that his prior criticism of Twitter’s content moderation policies wouldn’t diminish the platform’s appeal.
Twitter certainly can’t turn into a place where anyone can say anything without repercussions! Musk stated on Thursday in an open letter to advertisers.
As word of the transaction spread on Twitter, some individuals immediately indicated their readiness to withdraw.
If Musk, well, behaves like we all anticipate him to, I will be thrilled to leave in a hurry, a user with the @mustlovedogsxo account stated.
