Elon Musk Seizes Control of Twitter, Fires Top Executives
Elon Musk takes over Twitter and immediately dismisses the CEO, CFO, and top legal counsel. The move comes just ahead of a court-ordered deadline to finalize the $44 billion acquisition.
Elon Musk takes control of Twitter and immediately ousts the company's top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and Chief Legal Counsel Vijaya Gadde. Sources report that Musk is currently in charge of the social media platform, though it remains unclear if all the paperwork for the massive $44 billion deal is officially signed. These abrupt departures occur just hours before a strict deadline set by a Delaware judge, who threatened to schedule a trial if the agreement was not finalized by Friday.
The firing of these key leaders is a widely expected move and signals the beginning of major overhauls at the company. Musk privately clashed with Agrawal back in April before deciding to purchase the platform, and he previously used Twitter to publicly criticize Gadde. Following that criticism, Gadde faces severe online harassment, including racist and misogynistic attacks, which quickly resurface after news of her firing breaks.
Musk's upcoming changes aim to increase Twitter's subscriber base and overall revenue, prompting him to directly address anxious advertisers on Thursday. He reassures advertisers that his goal is to help humanity and explicitly states he does not want the platform to become a "free-for-all hellscape." This messaging attempts to calm fears that his stated plans to promote "free speech" will lead to a massive reduction in content moderation and drive away the advertisers that fund the platform.