Elon Musk has officially taken control of Twitter after finalising a $44bn deal to buy the social media network.
In one of his first decisions at the helm of the social media giant, Musk, the world’s richest man, fired three top executives including CEO Parag Agrawal, multiple United States-based media outlets reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal, policy, and trust, were also let go, according to the reports.
Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel, was also fired, the Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed source.
Following the reports, Musk tweeted “the bird is freed”, referencing the social media network’s bird logo.
Musk and Twitter have yet to confirm the firings. The Tesla CEO’s purchase caps a six-month saga that saw Twitter initially resist Musk’s purchase offer and then sue the billionaire after he signalled he would nix the deal over concerns about spam accounts and whistleblower claims about lax cybersecurity practices.
Critics have expressed concerns that Musk’s reign could mean open slather for hate speech and misinformation, while many conservatives have heralded the takeover as a corrective to Big Tech censorship of politically incorrect views.
Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist”, has criticised Twitter’s moderation policies and objected to censorship that goes beyond the requirements of the law. In May, Musk said he would reinstate former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was removed for allegedly inciting violence in the wake of the January 6 riots at the US Capitol.
Musk has also expressed discomfort with the platform’s reliance on advertising and is widely anticipated to oversee significant job cuts at the company, although he has reportedly denied a Washington Post report suggesting he plans to slash 75 percent of the workforce.
