Elon Musk became Twitter’s owner with firing top executives and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outline for the social media platform.
The CEO of electric car maker Tesla Elon Musk, has said he wants to “defeat” spam bots on Twitter, make the algorithms that determine how content is present to its users publicly available, and prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division, even as he limits censorship.
Elon Musk has not offer details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company.
Elon Musk has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter’s approximately 7,500 employees fretting about their future.
He also said that did not buy Twitter to make more money but “to try to help humanity, whom I love.“
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Elon Musk said to Have Fired CEO Parag Agrawal, Other Top Executives
Elon Musk terminated Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter.
He had accuse them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.
Parag Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escort out, the sources said.
Twitter, Elon Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elon Musk changed his description in his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit.”
Before closing the $44-billion (approx. Rs. 3,37,465 crore) acquisition, and never afraid to indulge in theatrics, Elon Musk walk into Twitter’s headquarters with a big grin and carrying a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting “let that sink in.”
Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
Elon Musk changed his description in his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit.”
He also try to calm fears among employees that major layoffs are coming and assure advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter’s content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.
Elon Musk Said in an open letter to Advertisers :
As Elon Musk has indicate he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a “super app” that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.
Elon Musk Said on Tesla’s call with Analysts :
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.
Elon Musk also said in May he would reverse the ban on Donald Trump, who was remove after the attack on the US Capitol, although the former US president has said he won’t return to the platform.
He has instead launch his own social media app, Truth Social.
Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal Story
The deal is the culmination of a remarkable story, full of twists and turns, that sowed doubt over whether Elon Musk would complete the deal.
It began on 4th April 2022, when Elon Musk disclose a 9.2% stake in the company, making him its largest shareholder.
Elon Musk then agreed to join Twitter’s board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share (approx. Rs. 4,320), an offer that Twitter was unsure whether to interpret as another of Elon Musk’s cannabis jokes.
His offer was real, and over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reach a deal at the price he suggest.
This happen without Elon Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company’s confidential information, as is customary in an acquisition.
Elon Musk had second thoughts.
He complain publicly that he believe Twitter’s spam accounts were significantly higher than Twitter’s estimate, publish in regulatory filings, of less than 5% of its monetizable daily active users.
His lawyers then accuse Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.
The acrimony result in Elon Musk giving notice to Twitter on 8th July 2022 that he was terminating their deal on the grounds that Twitter misled him about the bots and did not cooperate with him.
After 4 days, Twitter sued Elon Musk in Delaware, where the company is incorporate, to force him to complete the deal.
Then, shares of social media companies and the broader stock market had plunge on concerns that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, as it seeks to fight inflation, will push the US economy into recession.
Twitter accuse Elon Musk of buyer’s remorse, arguing he wanted to get out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.
Most legal analysts said Twitter had the strongest arguments and would likely prevail in court.
Their view did not change even after Twitter’s former security chief Peiter Zatko step forward as a whistleblower in August to allege that the company fail to disclose weaknesses in its security and data privacy.
On 4th October 2022, just as Elon Musk was set to be depose by Twitter’s lawyers ahead of the start of their trial later in the month, he perform another u-turn and offer to complete the deal as promise.
Elon Musk manage to do that, just one day ahead of an 28th October 2022 deadline given by the Delaware judge to avoid going to trial.
Twitter shares end trade in New York up 0.3% at $53.86 (approx. Rs. 4,430), a small discount to the $54.20 per share deal price.
The stock will be delist from the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Elon Musk Said to Plan Undoing Permanent Account Bans
Elon Musk has said that he intends to replace Parag Agrawal as CEO of the social media platform and also intends to reverse the permanent ban on users, according to a report.
Parag Agrawal was fire along with other major executives upon completion of the takeover, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Elon Musk is expect to remain CEO of Twitter in the interim period but may eventually cede the role in the longer term, the report said.
According to multiple US media reports, Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde its legal and policy executive as well as Ned Segal, its chief financial officer Ned Segal were ask to go.
Elon Musk, ahead of his $44 billion (approx. Rs. 3,37,500 crore) Twitter takeover deal had dismiss speculation about why he’d buy the microblogging platform and his thoughts on advertising.
Elon Musk Said :
As Elon Musk said that Twitter should be “warm and welcoming to all” and enable users to choose the experience they want to have.
Elon Musk told advertisers that he wants the platform to be “the most respected advertising platform in the world.”
Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com/GMwHmInPAS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2022
In July, Elon Musk who had long showing his interest to buy Twitter terminated the deal.
Elon Musk did so by alleging that Twitter violate their mutual purchase agreement by misrepresenting the number of spam and fake bot accounts on its platform.
After Musk put out the deal termination announcement, the market saw a sharp decline.
After, Twitter sued Elon Musk accusing him of using bots as a pretext to exit a deal.
Elon Musk confirm that he would move forward with the Twitter buyout at the originally agreed price of $54.20 per share (approx. Rs. 4,320).
So, the Twitter deal legal proceedings had put on hold by a judge overseeing the dispute until 28th October 2022.
Elon Musk Advocates for Twitter to Be ‘Most Respected Advertising Platform’
Elon Musk, once tweeted “I hate advertising”, said he wants Twitter to be “the most respected advertising platform“, in a bid to gain the trust of ad buyers ahead of the expected close of his $44 billion (approx. Rs. 3,62,200 crore) deal for the social media firm.
Elon Musk, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and investors in the deal had previously suggest moving away from advertising and seeking revenue from subscriptions and other means.
Elon Musk Said :
Ad sales account for more than 90% of Twitter’s revenue in the second quarter, and Reuters reported earlier this week that the company was struggling to keep its most active users who are vital to the business.
That underscores the challenge face by Elon Musk, who visit Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco and also hint at being the company’s top boss by updating his profile bio to “Chief Twit“.
In his tweets, Elon Musk also said he wanted Twitter to be “a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence“.
The self-describe “free speech absolutist” said in May he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former US President Donald Trump, who was remove from the microblogging site in January 2021 over the risk of further incitement of violence after the storming of the US Capitol.
Twitter deal’s completion would mark an end to a six-month-long process.
The Twitter’s shares will be suspend from trading on 28th October, 2022 the New York Stock Exchange’s website shows.