Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has started with the immediate firing of top executives following his completion of the $44 billion takeover of the social media platform.
Reuters reported that Musk fired Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal, its chief financial officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources said. Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters noted.
READ: Elon Musk says Twitter can’t become ‘free-for-all hellscape’ in open letter to advertisers
Before closing the deal, reports showed Musk walking into Twitter's headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting "let that sink in". He changed his Twitter profile description to "Chief Twit".
He also tried to calm employee fears that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter's content moderation rules would not harm its appeal. "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" Musk said in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.
"The bird is freed," he tweeted after he completed his $44 billion acquisition on Thursday, referencing Twitter's bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted.
Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a "super app" that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing. But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These "heavy tweeters" account for less than 10% of monthly overall users but generate 90% of all tweets and half of global revenue.
The saga is over
The Musk/Twitter saga began on April 4 this year when Musk disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake, becoming the company's largest shareholder. The world's richest person then agreed to join Twitter's board, only to baulk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share.
In the weeks that followed, Musk complained publicly about Twitter's spam accounts and his lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.
The acrimony resulted in Musk telling Twitter on July 8 he was terminating the deal. Four days later, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the acquisition and the deal appeared to be heading to a prolonged court battle.
Then, on October 4, just as Musk was set to be deposed by Twitter's lawyers, he performed another U-turn, offering to complete the deal as promised. He managed to do that, just one day ahead of a deadline given by a judge to avoid going to trial.
Twitter shares ended trade on Thursday up 0.3% at $53.86, just under the agreed offer price. The stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com