Elon Musk has officially bought Twitter. The entrepreneur completed the acquisition of one of the most influential social networks in the world for $44 billion, the same amount he offered initially. The first measure he took was to fire the company's top executives, assuring that now "the bird is freed.”
the bird is freed
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Musk decided to fire CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett. Musk also let go of Vijaya Gadde, who was Twitter's longtime head of legal affairs and who suspended accounts such as that of Donald Trump. Well known journalist Benny Johnson posted a video with all the accounts that were suspended.
Soon.
Free Them All. pic.twitter.com/UmwxPMFFkVF
- Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 28, 2022
The previous board of directors wanted to take Musk to court after Twitter's new owner rescinded his offer in July. Days later, Elon Musk backtracked and decided to move forward with the acquisition. A judge gave Musk until Oct. 28 to complete the purchase of Twitter. Failure to do so would have resulted in a trial.
On Wednesday, Musk went to Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco and added "Chief Twit" to his bio on the social network. He then posted a photo with some of the company's employees.
At Twitter headquarters' coffee bar,@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/vy5Cw7zttf
- Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) October 27, 2022
A day after his visit to Twitter HQ, Musk issued a public letter in which he defined freedom of speech as the main reason for his purchase:
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. There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.
