Elon Musk officially takes over Twitter as CEO and CFO leave building

Christopher Hutton

October 27, 08:42 PM October 27, 09:06 PM

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has been finalized, giving the world's richest man control over one of the most significant social media platforms and raising expectations for significant changes to content moderation.

The takeover, which came after months of legal jostling, gives Musk a chance to overhaul the platform in a quest to make it profitable and less censorious — including, possibly, by allowing former President Donald Trump back on the platform.

Musk has taken over the company as of Thursday night, sources told the Washington Post. At least four leading executives have been fired, including Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal.

ELON MUSK REASSURES ADVERTISERS TWITTER WON'T BE A 'FREE FOR ALL HELLSCAPE'

Musk has promoted a "free speech absolutist" approach to content moderation and sketched out plans to minimize Twitter's content moderation efforts. He emphasized during an appearance at a TED conference that the company would only moderate content as required by the laws in a given country. "If in doubt, let it exist," Musk said.

Still, Musk said in a Thursday note to advertisers that he would ensure the platform does not become a "free for all hellscape" and that he wanted to ensure it was friendly to all.

Musk said in earlier interviews that he was considering efforts to make the platform profitable but stated on Thursday that profit was not a priority and that he was acquiring the platform for humanity's benefit. It's unclear if advertisers will stick with Twitter or move on to other platforms due to only half of advertisers using it, according to a 2021 survey.

A major initial question is whether Trump will be allowed back on the platform. The billionaire declared the initial ban to be unethical and has said directly that he would reinstate Trump. Musk has been especially critical of Trump's Truth Social, a Twitter alternative, declaring it to be a "right-wing echo chamber."

Twitter employees have expressed their displeasure about Musk's acquisition and its implications for the company. At least 300 employees have left the company since the initial offer, and more are expected to do so after the deal is done. Early rumors arose implying that Musk would lay off at least 75% of the staff, but Musk and Twitter said they were not true.

The closed deal arrives after months of legal conflict between Twitter and Musk. The billionaire terminated his April offers to acquire the company in July over allegations that Twitter had been deceptive in its public filings about the number of users on the platform. Twitter immediately retaliated by filing a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery to force Musk to uphold the original offer. Musk was initially resistant but gave in and in early October agreed to purchase at the original price.