- choice of words
- BBC News World
image source, Getty Images
Elon Musk walked into Twitter headquarters on Wednesday with a sink in his hands.
Elon Musk closed the purchase of Twitter on Thursday and fired its top executives, according to US media.
The transaction was for 44 billion US dollars hours before the deadline for a billionaire to sign a contract to buy a social network.
Musk’s initial moves at the helm of Twitter included the removal of CEO Parag Agrawalwho went to court to force the Tesla boss to honor the terms of the takeover deal he tried to escape, the Washington Post and CNBC reported, citing unnamed sources.
Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal was also fired.
Musk, the world’s richest man, said Twitter needed significant changes.
The closing of the operation ends a saga in which Musk offered to buy the company, then said he wanted to retire, before Twitter began legal action to compel the entrepreneur complete the job.
He says we’re here for the money
On Thursday, Musk tweeted that he was interested in the platform Not is by earn money.
Company shares will cease trading on Fridayit says on the New York Stock Exchange website.
Musk claimed he bought it to help humanity, saying he wanted “civilization to have a digital common square.”
On Wednesday, Musk posted a video on Twitter of himself walking into Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco with a kitchen sink with the caption: “Let it sink in!” In English, the noun sink and the verb sink, and their conjugation “sink”, are the same word: sink.
He also changed his Twitter bio to now say “Twit Boss”.
Many analysts have argued that the price Musk is now paying for the company is too high given the decline in tech stock prices and Twitter’s struggle to attract users and grow.
image source, Getty Images
Musk, an active Twitter user, went through the motions before finalizing the purchase of the company.
In a recent conference call with investors, the Tesla founder said Twitter was “an asset that has been failing for a long time, but has incredible potential.”
“Although obviously other investors and I are paying too much for Twitter right now,” he continued.
A long way to an agreement
Musk’s early investments in Twitter initially escaped public attention.
In January, he began buying shares regularly and by mid-March he had built up a 5% stake in the company.
Musk said he plans to clean up spam accounts and preserve the platform as a place for free speech.
But by mid-May, Musk, a prolific Twitter user, began to have second thoughts about the purchase, citing concerns that the number of fake accounts on the social network was higher than Twitter claimed.
In July, he said he no longer wanted to take over the company. The previous owners, however, argued that the billionaire was legally obligated to buy the company.
Twitter eventually filed a lawsuit to force him to honor the deal.
In early October, Musk revived his plans to take over the company on the condition that the legal process be halted.
image source, AFP
Changes to come
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has criticized Twitter’s moderation policy, and Twitter users and employees will welcome the news with mixed feelings.
Some users, particularly those on the American right, claim that conservative voices are censored on the platform, which Twitter denies.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump he is still banned from the platform, a decision Musk previously said was “stupid” and that he would overturn it.
But others fear that the relaxation of the moderation policy will allow the spread of hate speech.
In a Thursday tweet aimed at Twitter advertisers, Musk said the platform can’t become a “free-for-all hell” and should be “warm and welcoming for everyone.”
As the owner of Twitter, Musk is planning big changes for staff. Although the billionaire denied that he would lay off 75 percent of his staff at a meeting with employees, as reported by Bloomberg, work at Twitter could become more difficult from now on.
Tesla’s CEO has tweeted in the past that employees should anticipate “extreme” work ethic expectations.
The businessman also announced that among his plans for Twitter is “X, the app for everything“.
Some suggest it could be something similar to China’s successful WeChat app, a sort of “superapp” that includes a variety of services including messaging, social networking, payments and food ordering.
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