Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has completed a $44 billion (£38.1 billion) acquisition of Twitter, according to US government filings.
The social media giant, one of the first decisions of Musk, the world’s richest man, has fired three of his top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, multiple US media outlets reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust Vijaya Gadde have also reportedly been fired.
Twitter’s general counsel, Sean Edgett, has also been fired, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources.
“The bird is freed,” Elon musk tweeted, referencing the bird logo on social media networks.
Elon Musk and Twitter have yet to confirm layoffs.
The Tesla CEO takeover has turned the billionaire on its head after Twitter initially resisted Musk’s takeover offer, suggesting it would ditch the deal over concerns about spam accounts and claims by whistleblowers about lax cybersecurity practices.
Elon Musk’s interest in the platform has become a lightning rod for the free speech debate in the digital age. Critics have expressed concern that Musk’s tenure could be exposed to hate speech and misinformation, but many conservatives view the acquisition as a way to end Big Tech’s censorship of politically incorrect views. It is welcomed as a corrective measure.
Elon Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist,” criticizes Twitter’s moderation policies and opposes censorship beyond what is required by law. Musk said in May that he would reactivate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was deleted for allegedly inciting violence after the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Musk has also expressed unease about the platform’s reliance on advertising and is widely expected to oversee the company’s drastic job cuts.
In a lengthy message posted on Twitter ahead of Friday’s purchase deadline, Musk, who previously changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit,” announced his intention to turn the platform into a “free for all hellscape.”
He said, “The reason I acquired Twitter is that 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.”
Musk, who describes himself as a moderate, regularly meddles in politics, drawing criticism for his unorthodox proposals to address geopolitical hotspots from Taiwan to Ukraine.
The billionaire announced earlier this year that he would be voting Republican in the next election because the Democrats had become the “party of division and hate” but has since said he would support moderate candidates from both parties.
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