Elon Musk Fires Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, an Executive “Escorted Out”
After six months of a public and legal battle over the purchase, Elon Musk finally completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the situation, placing the world’s richest man in charge of the faltering social network.
One of Elon Musk‘s first actions was to replace the leadership. According to persons with knowledge of the situation, departures include Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, director of legal, policy, and trust Vijaya Gadde; chief financial officer Ned Segal, who joined Twitter in 2017; and general counsel Sean Edgett, who has served as Twitter’s general counsel since 2012. According to two people who requested anonymity because the details are private, Edgett was led out of the building.
Twitter will now be a private corporation, and shareholders will receive $54.20 per share. The conclusion ends a complicated process that started in January with the billionaire quietly building up a sizable investment in the business, his mounting displeasure with how it’s handled, and an eventual merger agreement that he later spent months trying to undo. On October 4, Musk decided to move forward with the terms he had first suggested, and a Delaware Chancery Court judge granted the two parties until October 28 to complete the transaction. That deadline was met, and now Musk, who also serves as CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Inc., also has the power of Twitter, which he frequently uses but openly criticises and has promised to alter fundamentally. The business’ shares are no longer traded on the New York stock exchange.
Because many of Musk’s suggestions for changing the company are incompatible with how it has been conducted for years, his ownership will immediately disrupt the company’s operations. He has stated that he wants to protect “free speech” on social networks, which probably entails lowering the standards for content moderation. He also plans to reinstate some well-known accounts that were suspended from Twitter for breaking the rules, including the account of former US President Donald Trump. Musk’s activities threaten to reverse years of Twitter’s attempts to curtail bullying and harassment on social media. As the deadline drew near, Musk started to brand the business, posting a video of himself entering the headquarters and altering his platform profile description.
Since the merger was revealed in April, Twitter staff have been preparing for layoffs, and Elon Musk mentioned the concept of cost reductions to banking partners when he was initially raising money for the deal. According to a person familiar with the situation earlier this month, Musk informed some prospective investors that he expects to double Twitter’s income within three years and plans to reduce 75% of the company’s personnel, which currently numbers approximately 7,500.
According to those familiar with the situation, when Musk visited Twitter‘s headquarters on Wednesday, he told employees that he did not intend to fire 75% of the workforce after taking over the firm. For the past six months, it has been difficult for Twitter employees, who have only followed the roller-coaster deal’s ups and downs through news headlines.
Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with Musk’s involvement, and some have questioned his suitability to lead a social networking company. Many Twitter employees have expressed worry over his support of a far-right political candidate in Texas and sexual harassment claims made in May by a former SpaceX flight attendant. Some staff members made fun of Musk during a video Q&A with Musk on internal Slack channels in June. During the agreement, other people publicly mocked or chastised him on Twitter.