Elon Musk became Twitter's new owner on Thursday, firing top executives he had accused of misleading him and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.

The CEO of electric car maker Tesla has said he wants to "defeat" spam bots on Twitter, make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available, and prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division, even as he limits censorship.

"The bird is freed," he tweeted after he completed his $44 billion 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.

He has said he plans to cut jobs, and also said on Thursday that he did not buy Twitter to make more money but "to try to help humanity, whom I love."

Musk terminated 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 social media platform.

Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources added.

‘Smash Brahmanical patriarchy’ fame Vijaya Gadde sacked

Hours before being fired by Elon Musk, the Legal Head of Twitter Inc, Vijaya Gadde, had liked a tweet of the new owner of the micro-blogging platform. Vijaya Gadde was sacked shortly after the Tesla CEO visited the headquarters of Twitter in San Francisco and finalised the $44-billion deal, which effectively made Musk the new owner of Twitter.

On Thursday (October 27), Elon Musk had tweeted, “Meeting a lot of cool people at Twitter today.” Interestingly, the Twitter Legal Head had liked the tweet probably before learning about her impending fate.

Besides her, the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ned Segal and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Parag Agrawal were also fired for misleading the Tesla CEO and the investors about fake accounts on Twitter.

In April, it was reported that Gadde was all set to lose her $17 million-a-year job as Musk expressed no confidence in the top management of Twitter. The Tesla CEO had taken potshots at her for censoring the critical ‘Hunter Biden story.’

She also played a vital role in terminating ex-President Donald Trump’s account on Twitter. In an article, Politico had reported that Gadde broke down in tears after learning about the possibility of a change in ownership of the micro-blogging platform.

In 2018, Twitter founder ack Dorsey stoked a massive controversy after he was seen holding an anti-Brahmin placard, which read ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy.’ Dorsey was accompanied by Vijaya Gadde along with the poster’s designer, Thenmozhi Soundararajan.

Following outrage on social media, Vijaya Gadde ‘profusely’ apologized to people for hurting their statements.

Twists and turns

The $44-billion acquisition is the culmination of a remarkable saga, full of twists and turns, that sowed doubt over whether Musk would complete the deal. It began on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2% stake in the San Francisco company, making him its largest shareholder.

The world's richest person then agreed to join Twitter's board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share, an offer that Twitter was unsure whether to interpret as another of Musk's cannabis jokes.

Musk's offer was real, and over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reached a deal at the price he suggested. This happened without Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company's confidential information, as is customary in an acquisition.

In the weeks that followed, Musk had second thoughts. He complained publicly that he believed Twitter's spam accounts were significantly higher than Twitter's estimate, published in regulatory filings, of less than 5% of its monetizable daily active users. His lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.

The acrimony resulted in Musk giving notice to Twitter on July 8 that he was terminating their deal on the grounds that Twitter misled him on the bots and did not cooperate with him. Four days later, Twitter sued Musk in Delaware, where the company is incorporated, to force him to complete the deal.

By then, shares of social media companies and the broader stock market had plunged on concerns that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes, as it seeks to fight inflation, will push the US economy into recession. Twitter accused Musk of buyer's remorse, arguing he wanted to get out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.

Most legal analysts said Twitter had the strongest arguments and would likely prevail in court. Their view did not change even after Twitter's former security chief Peiter Zatko stepped forward as a whistleblower in August to allege that the company failed to disclose weaknesses in its security and data privacy.

On Oct. 4, just as Musk was set to be deposed by Twitter's lawyers ahead of the start of their trial later in the month, he performed another u-turn and offered to complete the deal as promised. The Delaware judge gave him an Oct. 28 deadline to close the transaction and avoid the trial.

'Chief Twit'

Since then, Musk has indulged in the deal hype. He walked into Twitter's headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and carrying a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting "let that sink in." He changed his description in his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit."

He also tried to calm fears among employees that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter's content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.

"Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" Musk said in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.

Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a "super app" that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.

"The long-term potential for Twitter in my view is an order of magnitude greater than its current value," Musk said on Tesla's call with analysts on Oct 19.

But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These "heavy tweeters" account for less than 10% of monthly overall users but generate 90% of all tweets and half of global revenue.

Musk said in May he would reverse the ban on Donald Trump, who was removed after the attack on the US Capitol, although the former US President Donald Trump has said he won't return on the platform. He has instead launched his own social media app, Truth Social.

A Saga

The deal's road to fruition was full of twists and turns that sowed doubt over whether it would happen at all. It began on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake, becoming the company's largest shareholder.

The world's richest person then agreed to join Twitter's board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share, an offer that Twitter thought might be another of Musk's cannabis jokes.

Musk's offer was real, and over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reached a deal at the suggested price. This happened without Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company's confidential information.

In the weeks that followed, Musk had second thoughts. He complained publicly about Twitter's spam accounts and his lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.

The acrimony resulted in Musk telling Twitter on July 8 he was terminating the deal. Four days later, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the acquisition.

By then, the stock market had plunged on concerns about a potential recession. Twitter accused Musk of buyer's remorse, arguing he wanted out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.

Most legal analysts said Twitter had the strongest arguments and would likely prevail in court.

On Oct. 4, just as Musk was set to be deposed by Twitter's lawyers, he performed another U-turn, offering to complete the deal as promised. He managed to do that, just one day ahead of a deadline given by a judge to avoid going to trial.

Twitter shares ended trade on Thursday up 0.3% at $53.86, just under the agreed price. The stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

References:

jpost.com