Elon Musk is said to have completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, assuming control and firing several executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal.
On Thursday evening, multiple outlets reported that Musk had finalized the deal, capping a tumultuous saga that began when the billionaire first announced his plans to buy the company in April. Musk did not issue an official statement, but he did tweet, “the bird is freed.”
According to The Guardian UK, shortly after taking control of Twitter, Musk reportedly fired several senior executives, including chief executive Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and head of legal policy, trust, and safety Vijaya Gadde.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the billionaire accused them of deceiving him and Twitter investors about the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.
When the deal closed, Agrawal and Segal were escorted out of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
The reported layoffs come after Musk announced plans to lay off nearly 75% of Twitter’s workforce in an effort to reduce the company’s debt. Musk later denied those reports, telling employees that he would not lay off such a large number of employees.
However, there was some uncertainty surrounding the deal on Thursday night, with neither Twitter nor Musk immediately confirming the firings. Musk, who had previously changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit,” made no mention of the firings after the news broke.
Twitter is now entering a new chapter, with questions swirling about what Musk intends to do with a platform that has a sizable following among journalists, commentators, celebrities, and politicians.
Musk paid a visit to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday, carrying a sink and meeting with employees. He has stated that he is buying the company “to try to help humanity.”
“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,” he said in a tweet earlier on Thursday.
Thursday’s late-night shakeup comes ahead of a Friday deadline to complete the purchase of the company, and will give the world’s richest man control of an influential social media platform with more than 230 million users.
Musk initially attempted to walk away from a deal to buy the company in May, beginning a months-long standoff that was due to go to court before Musk made a dramatic U-turn and offered to purchase the company after all.
Musk became embroiled in a row with the company over the number of spam accounts on its platform, leading him to announce in July he was walking away from the transaction.
Twitter then sued Musk in Delaware, where the company is incorporated, to demand that he close the deal. Following a surprise change of mind by Musk as a court date approached, a Delaware judge then gave both sides until 28 October to close the deal.
Throughout the back-and-forth, Musk regularly clashed with senior figures at Twitter, including Agrawal and Gadde.