Elon Musk became the new owner of Twitter on Thursday.
The CEO of electric car maker Tesla has said he wants to “defeat” spambots on Twitter, make public the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users and prevent the platform from becoming a chamber of echo for hatred and division, even as it limits censorship.
Still, Musk did not give details on how he will achieve all of this and who will run the company. He said he planned to cut jobs, leaving Twitter’s roughly 7,500 employees to worry about their future.
He also said on Thursday that he didn’t buy Twitter to make more money but “to try to help humanity, which I love.”
Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com/GMwHmInPAS
Musk fired Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and chief legal and policy officer Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors about the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.
Agrawal and Segal were at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco when the deal was struck and were being escorted out, the sources said.
Twitter, Musk and executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Doubt about the agreement
The $44 billion acquisition is the culmination of a remarkable saga full of twists and turns that cast doubt on Musk’s completion of the deal.
It all started on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2% stake in the San Francisco company, making him its largest shareholder.
The world’s richest person then agreed to join Twitter’s board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for US$54.20 a share, an offer Twitter wouldn’t. unsure if it should be interpreted as another of Musk’s cannabis jokes.
Musk’s offer was real, and just a weekend later in April, the two sides reached an agreement at the price he had suggested. This happened without Musk performing due diligence on confidential company information, as is customary in an acquisition.
In the weeks that followed, Musk had second thoughts.
He complained publicly that he believed Twitter’s spam counts were significantly higher than Twitter’s estimate, published in regulatory filings, of less than 5% of its monetizable daily active users. His lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.
The acrimony led Musk to notify Twitter on July 8 that he was terminating their agreement on the grounds that Twitter misled him about the bots and failed to cooperate with him.
Twitter is suing
Four days later, Twitter sued Musk in Delaware, where the company is incorporated, to force him into the deal.
By then, shares of social media companies and the broader stock market had plunged on fears that interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, as it seeks to fight inflation, push the US economy into recession.
Twitter accused Musk of buyer’s remorse, arguing that he wanted out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.
Most legal analysts said Twitter had the strongest case and would likely prevail in court.
Their view hasn’t changed even after former Twitter security chief Peiter Zatko came forward as a whistleblower in August to allege the company failed to disclose the weaknesses in its security and data confidentiality.
On Oct. 4, just as Musk was due to be deposed by Twitter attorneys before their trial begins later that month, he made another U-turn and offered to complete the deal as promised.
The Delaware judge gave him an October 28 deadline to close the deal and avoid trial.
Entering Twitter’s headquarters – let him in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
‘Chief Twit’
Since then, Musk has indulged in the hype. He walked into Twitter headquarters on Wednesday with a big smile and wearing a porcelain sink, then tweeting “let it flow.” He changed his description in his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit”.
He also tried to allay employee fears about major layoffs coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter’s content moderation rules wouldn’t hurt his appeal.
“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said without consequences!” Musk said Thursday in an open letter to advertisers.
Musk said he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a “super app” that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and hosting.
Twitter obviously cannot become a free hell for all, where everything can be said without consequences!– Elon Musk in an open letter to Twitter advertisers
“Twitter’s long-term potential, in my view, is an order of magnitude greater than its current value,” Musk said during Tesla’s call with analysts Oct. 19.
But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These “big tweeters” represent less than 10% of global monthly users, but generate 90% of all tweets and half of global revenue.
Musk said in May he would reverse the ban on Donald Trump, who was removed from office after the attack on the US Capitol, although the former US president said he would not return to the platform. form.
Trump instead launched his own social media app, Truth Social.
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