Elon Musk Assumes Control of Twitter and Immediately Cleans House

Matt Vespa | October 28, 2022 6:05 AM

A new era for Twitter has begun under Elon Musk. The ongoing legal drama between the tech company and the billionaire entrepreneur has been resolved. The legal tug-of-war has been going on for the better part of the year. In the spring, Musk tendered a $44 billion offer to buy the company, which set off a liberal meltdown that rivaled the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Musk wanted more details about the prevalence of spam bots, which Twitter reportedly was reluctant to hand over. Musk then tried to back out of the deal, which led Twitter to file a lawsuit. And then there was a countersuit from Mr. Musk, with both sides heading to court until the Tesla founder agreed to take over the company. He started by firing the upper management immediately—the CEO and CFO of Twitter are now gone (via Axios):

JUST IN - Elon Musk took control and immediately fired Twitter's CEO, the CFO, and the head of legal policy, trust, and safety — WaPo
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 28, 2022

The deal gives Musk sole control of one of the most important global platforms for political speech and social discourse.
He also fired CEO Parag Agarwal and CFO Ned Segal, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that they were escorted out of the company's San Francisco headquarters.
Backstory: Musk began talking with Twitter in March about getting involved with the company, and disclosed a 9.2% ownership stake in early April.
By the end of April, he had a signed deal to buy the company. By May, he was publicly expressing doubts. And in July, he tried to officially walk away.
Twitter sued, Musk countersued, and the two sides were headed to trial before Musk caved in early October.
During most of this time, Twitter's stock traded well below Musk's $54.20 per share takeover offer. It closed under $40 as late as Sept. 6.
[…]
… Musk hasn't yet laid out a clear vision for Twitter.
He reportedly told some investors that he'd cut 75% of Twitter's headcount once the deal closes, but he more recently told employees otherwise.
Musk said he wants Twitter to prioritize free speech, but has said he would adhere to the local laws of any country Twitter operates in — and those laws often stifle free speech. He also tweeted a message to advertisers, acknowledging that the platform "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape."