Musk buys Twitter and immediately fires 4 top managers

Elon Musk has completed his $ 44 billion Twitter acquisition

and has already started cleaning up, firing four top executives.

Those torpedoed are chief executive

, chief financial officer Ned Segal, head of legal affairs and policy Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett.

Agrawal and Segal, who were inside the company headquarters, were literally kicked out of the building escorted by security.

Thus ends the saga that saw Twitter arrive in court to force Musk to comply with the terms of the acquisition agreement he had tried to escape.

Musk had until today, Friday, October 28, to complete his $ 44 billion acquisition of Twitter and thus avoid the judicial battle with the company.

The long road to agreement

Musk's first investments in Twitter date back to January 2022, when he starts making regular stock purchases, so much so that by mid-March he had amassed a 5% stake in the company.

In April, Twitter accepts Musk's proposal to purchase the social media service.

However, Musk soon begins to sow doubts about his intentions to go through with the deal, claiming that the company has failed to adequately disclose the number of spam and fake accounts on the service.

When Musk declares he is terminating the deal, Twitter sues him, arguing that "he is refusing to honor his obligations to Twitter and its shareholders because the agreement he signed no longer serves his personal interests."

In early October, Musk changes his mind and says he will pursue his acquisition of Twitter at the original price of $ 54.20 per share if the social messaging service abandons the litigation.

Wary of Musk's motives, Twitter attorneys say Tesla's CEO's "proposal is an invitation to further damages and delays."

A Delaware Chancery Court judge eventually ruled that Musk had until October 28 to cement the deal on Twitter or go to trial.

Musk's reassurances

Musk's criticism of Twitter's moderation policies was met with mixed feelings from Twitter users and employees.

Some users, particularly those on the US right, argue that conservative voices are censored on the platform, an allegation that Twitter denies.

Former US President Donald Trump remains banned from the platform - a decision Musk previously called "foolish" and which he allegedly overturned.

But others fear that relaxed restraint policies would allow hate speech to proliferate.

On Thursday, Musk wrote a message intended to reassure advertisers that social messaging services would not turn into "a free hell landscape for all, where anything can be said without consequence!"

"The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important for the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of opinions can be discussed in a healthy way, without resorting to violence

," Musk said in the message.

"There is currently a great danger that social media will break down into far-right and far-left echo chambers that generate more hatred and divide our society."

Musk's latest performance came this week when he arrived at Twitter HQ carrying a sink and then commented on the event on Twitter, saying "Going into Twitter HQ, get over it!"

Musk also updated his Twitter description to "Chief Twit".

@elonmusk Twitter

Updated profile @elonmusk