
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion
WASHINGTON: Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has completed his US$44 billion acquisition of Twitter in addition to firing three of the company’s top senior executives and is set to chart a new direction for the microblogging website, according to reports.
In addition to finalizing the purchase and adding new companies to his vast technology portfolio, Musk took Twitter private and paid shareholders a higher than original price of US$54.20 per share, Anadolu agency reported .
Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal, trust and security policy, were fired, The Washington Post reported citing sources.
Am Twitter advisor Sean Edgett was also fired, according to the Washington Post .
The settlement of the deal led to the end of a lawsuit from Twitter that sought to force Musk to complete his offer after he tried to renege on the deal.
Musk earlier Thursday signaled that the deal would be finalized shortly, changing his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” and writing at length — by Twitter standards — assuring advertisers that he doesn’t want the site to be “free- for everyone.”
He has long taken a tougher approach to free speech, but in a message to advertisers, he pledged to continue Twitter’s policy of policing a range of content including hate speech and threats of violence.
“I acquired Twitter because the civilization of the future needs to have a common digital city square, where various beliefs can be debated healthily without resorting to violence,” Musk wrote.
source – BERNAMA