Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Twitter Takeover, Fires Top Executives, and Makes Himself CEO

Elon Musk has completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter and instated himself as CEO, just hours before a court-ordered deadline to buy the business expired, according to multiple reports.

twitter elon musk
In a reference to Twitter's logo, billionaire Musk tweeted "the bird is freed," after reportedly firing several top executives, including the chief executive, Parag Agrawal. Musk earlier changed his Twitter bio to "Chief Twit."

Other senior figures ousted by Musk reportedly included Ned Segal, chief financial officer, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety.

The finalized deal caps a chaotic acquisition saga that began with Musk originally offering to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April – a deal that Twitter accepted – before Musk in May put the takeover "temporarily on hold" because of a dispute over the number of fake or spam accounts that Twitter claimed to have.

In July, Musk decided he no longer wanted to buy Twitter and attempted to call off the purchase. Twitter in turn filed a lawsuit to force Musk to go on with the sale. By October, Musk once again reversed course by proposing a purchase at the original price.


Musk's executive firings followed news last week that the billionaire planned to slash Twitter staff numbers by 75% in an effort to pay down the company's debt burden. Musk later dismissed those reports, saying he would not cut that percentage of employees.

Attention now turns to Twitter's future direction, and how Musk's plans will affect the social media platform with more than 230 million users. "The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence," he said in a statement posted to his Twitter account on Thursday. Musk continued:

There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.

In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarized extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.

That is why I bought Twitter. I didn't do it because it would be easy. I didn't do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.

That said, Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature.

Musk ended by stating his belief that advertising, when done right, can "delight, entertain, and inform," and that Twitter aspires to be "the most respected advertising platform in the world."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

contacos Avatar
15 months ago
Too soon?



Attachment Image
Score: 150 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fozziebear71 Avatar
15 months ago
And all the he/him's and she/her's that said they would leave the platform if he bought it are now saying he'll have to kick them off. Kind of like they were moving to another country if Trump won. It's glorious.
Score: 88 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redbeard331 Avatar
15 months ago

This is so great. Twitter was a tool to spread woke ideology and censored any opposing opinions. I got banned from Twitter for 30 days for writing that each time I see Greta Thunberg trending, I hope that she got eaten by sharks.

If a private platform is a place were hundreds of millions communicate, it should not have the power to censor anything based on strange "community guidelines". Otherwise these problem pose a great thread to democracy. The funny thing is that people from the left see it as a threat if those platform do NOT censor content. Since when was having NO censorship a threat to democracy?

I also got banned from Facebook when I wrote something like "I do not like modern women. They only focus on their career. So I swipe left if a woman has a job. Those women should better marry their boss. That helps boosting their career". That post may be controversial and women might not like it, but on woke platforms like Facebook it is enough to get banned for a while. I hope Twitter will be different now.
What the hell is “woke ideology”?

And why do you wish for a young girl who has more balls and brains than every conservative in the universe to be killed?

This is what we can expect to see twitter full of now.
Score: 81 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nerdAFK Avatar
15 months ago
The man gets too much hate, not enough credit.

Also, have some fun! Why so serious?



Attachment Image
Score: 78 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Danfango Avatar
15 months ago
I don't think anyone actually realises what the notion of free speech is.

You can indeed speak freely on Twitter now. But you're going to look like a dick on the public record. Firstly people will challenge you and knock you down because that's their right to do so. Secondly you're doing it on the public record and believe me there are software companies out there right now with huge databases of twitter content they can objectively tie to your reputation which will follow you around until you're dead.

Don't say anything regrettable in public.

Treat each other with respect and as equals, not crow over your superiority and your ideological superiority. Life is better that way.
Score: 65 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
15 months ago
Amazing news
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
iOS 16 4 Web Push

Apple Confirms Governments Using Push Notifications to Surveil Users

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:06 am PST by
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
airpods pro 2 pink

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 2 Firmware

Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware update for both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Pro 2. The new firmware is version 6B34, up from the 6B32 firmware introduced in November. Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware beyond "bug fixes and other improvements," so it is unclear what's new in the update, but prior software releases ...
magsafe blue 2

iOS 17.2 Brings Qi2 Support to iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 Models

Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:04 am PST by
The iOS 17.2 update that Apple is set to release to the public in the near future will bring support for the next-generation Qi2 wireless charging standard to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models. Qi2 was mentioned in the release notes for the RC version of the update that came out today. With the addition of support for the new standard, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models will work with Qi2...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

'All-Screen' iPhone Under-Display Camera Enters Development

Wednesday December 6, 2023 2:03 am PST by
Apple's Korean suppliers have begun developing smartphone under-display cameras (UDC), paving the way for the first iPhone with a true "all-screen" appearance. According to The Elec, LG Innotek has entered the preliminary development of the UDC, which sits under the display and does not result in a visible hole in the panel when the camera is not in use. A UDC differs from a typical front ...
airpods pro bulbs

Black Friday Prices Return for AirPods Pro 2 With USB-C, iPad, and More

Tuesday December 5, 2023 7:30 am PST by
Today we're tracking a collection of deals that are matching - or nearly matching - the same all-time low discounts we saw during Black Friday. This includes the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, 9th generation iPad, and M1 MacBook Air. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the ...
instagram messenger

Instagram and Facebook Messenger Chats to Disconnect This Month

Tuesday December 5, 2023 1:57 am PST by
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
iPhone 15 USB C Port Event Still

Apple Pushes Back Against iPhone USB-C Regulations in India

Tuesday December 5, 2023 4:18 am PST by
Apple has asked the Indian government to exempt existing iPhones from new rules that require smartphones sold in the country to have a USB-C charging port, reports Reuters. India wants to replicate an upcoming European Union rule that requires all smartphones to implement the USB-C charging standard. However, according to a new report, Apple has told India its local production targets will...