Twitter has changed ownership. And if that somehow wasn't clear by now, the new owner wants to make it so.
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla (TSLA), completed the acquisition of the social network on Oct. 27 for the colossal sum of $44 billion. Everyone is awaiting announcements on the platform's economic model and the rules that will determine which posts are acceptable and not.
But meantime, the whimsical and charismatic entrepreneur immediately put in place big changes to make his mark on the platform.
Musk immediately fired CEO Parag Agrawal and three other top executives. Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy and trust, were also fired, a source told TheStreet.
Sean Edgett, the general counsel, was escorted out of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters after being fired.
Gadde was in the line of fire as she oversaw Twitter's content policy. And it was her team that had recommended, according to the press, the suspension of the account of former President Donald Trump after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, on Capitol Hill.
Segal recounted, in a series of posts, the challenges of working at Twitter during the past six months. Musk had originally made his unsolicited bid for the microblogging website in April.
"The past 6 months have pulled on every mental muscle I’ve developed in 48 years," he tweeted on Oct. 29. "You learn so much when times are challenging and unpredictable, when we are tired or feel our integrity questioned. Our team remained kind, respectful, and steadfast. They’re lifelong friends."
Musk Is Now Sole Director
But Musk didn't stop at these four. He also fired the entire Twitter board, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released Oct. 31. He thus became the only board member.
"On October 27, 2022, and as a result of the consummation of the Merger, Mr. Musk became the sole director of Twitter," the company wrote in the regulatory filing.
"In accordance with the terms of the merger agreement, effective as of the effective time of the merger, the following persons, who were directors of Twitter prior to the effective time of the Merger, are no longer directors of Twitter: Bret Taylor, Parag Agrawal, Omid Kordestani, David Rosenblatt, Martha Lane Fox, Patrick Pichette, Egon Durban, Fei-Fei Li and Mimi Alemayehou."
The billionaire, who withdrew Twitter from the stock exchange to model the platform in his own way and without regulatory pressure, thus holds all the authority over the site.
Curiously, Musk has refused to take on the title of chief executive.
"My title is Chief Twit right there in the bio," the techno king said on Oct. 30. "No idea who the CEO is."
Musk has brought in a friend -- Jason Calacanis -- plus family and lieutenants to tackle the changes he wants to put in place and generate significant advertising revenue.
"Elon, what’s the one thing that’s most messed up at twitter right now?? @elonmusk," a Twitter user asked him on Oct. 30.
"There seem to be 10 people “managing” for every one person coding," he responded.
Twitter employees are bracing for massive job cuts in the coming weeks, even though Musk has denied reports of any announcements before Nov. 1. That's when employees are due to receive their stock grants, which constitute part of their pay.
If the employees are laid off before Nov. 1, Musk will not have to pay the grants. He will pay them only cash, as outlined in the deal to acquire the platform for $44 billion that he signed with the firm.
