Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Twitter Acquisition Deal, Sacks Its Top Executives

Elon Musk now controls Twitter following months of dithering, legal disputes, rhetorical mudslinging, and the narrow escape of a full-blown trial.

Elon Musk has completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, Three people with knowledge of the transaction said on Thursday night, placing the richest man in the world in charge of one of the most important social media networks.

At least four senior Twitter officials, including the CEO and CFO, were sacked on Thursday as part of his organisational restructuring.

The chief executive, Parag Agrawal, the chief financial officer, the senior legal and policy executive, Vijaya Gadde, and the general counsel, Sean Edgett, were among the Twitter officials let go on Thursday.

According to them, at least one of the sacked executives was led from Twitter's headquarters.

On Wednesday, Musk visited with engineers and advertising executives at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters.

After months of turmoil and legal issues as Musk changed his mind about purchasing the business, the deal was finally closed, sending Twitter on an uncertain path.

Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist," has declared that he wants to make the social media site a more open space for all kinds of criticism and that he would "lift the permanent ban" of former President Donald J. Trump from the service.

Some Republicans who believed Twitter restricted conservative perspectives have applauded the deal.

According to researchers, Twitter's guidelines have proved crucial in preventing online hate speech and misinformation.

Allowing their logos to appear next to divisive messages has caused several sponsors to express concern.

“It’s a ‘back-to-the-future’ reversion to content rules circa 2010, but one that ignores the lived experience over the last decade,” said Colin Crowell, Twitter’s former head of global public policy, who left the company in 2019. 

“People eventually realize that the Wild West needs a sheriff, both for ensuring the safety of citizens but also for enhancing the prospects for commerce.”

Additionally, Musk has pledged to make other significant changes at Twitter, such as hiring new management, eliminating old positions, and looking for new revenue streams.

Twitter, a San Francisco-based company with over 7,500 employees, has struggled to expand its advertising-based business and draw in new users on a constant basis. It was evident that Musk wanted to act quickly by sacking the senior corporate executives on Thursday.

The conclusion of the agreement was a success for Twitter's board. Twitter came under fire for accepting a too-low price for the firm in April when Musk agreed to buy it for $54.20 a share.

The purchase price, however, appeared to be a gain for shareholders when the global economy deteriorated in the following months and Twitter's stock sank, and the board moved to compel Musk to uphold the agreement.

With more than 109 million followers and one of Twitter's most active users, Musk started buying company stock this year.

He agreed to buy the business in April for $44 billion and pledged to change Twitter's content moderation procedures, get rid of spam, add new services, and be more open about the algorithms that are used to promote content.

“Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” he said in a statement in April.

However, he started doubting the transaction after only a few weeks. Musk slammed the Twitter officials in charge of making content selections and claimed that the firm was undercounting the number of spam accounts using its site.

When Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal attempted to refute Musk's statements, Musk retaliated by tweeting a faeces emoji.

By July, Musk had made up his mind that he no longer wanted to be the owner of Twitter, claiming that he had been misinformed about the volume of spam the site received. He declared that he was going to back out of the purchase.

To compel Musk to honour the contract, Twitter sued him.

The business claimed that Musk was attempting to back out of the agreement because the recession had reduced his personal wealth.

Of the $44 billion transaction, Musk had committed to personally contribute about $33 billion.

Delaware Chancery Court, which handles many corporate cases, ultimately heard the lawsuit.

Midway through October, the court scheduled a five-day trial to hear the case.

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However, Musk changed his mind when faced with days of testimony and an undetermined result.

He made an effort to bargain for a lower contract price. Those conversations came to nothing.

This month, Musk declared that if Twitter dropped its legal action against him, he would proceed with the purchase at the original price.

Three weeks have been given to Musk by the judge presiding over Twitter's lawsuit to complete the transaction.

Musk has stated that he will turn Twitter into an "everything app" dubbed X, and has set some lofty goals for the social media platform.

He predicted that by 2028, Twitter would have 931 million users and generate annual revenue of $26.4 billion in presentations to investors regarding the purchase.

With more than 200 million users, the firm reported $5.08 billion in sales the previous year.

Cuts may be required, according to Musk, in order to keep Twitter's expenses under control.

Many of the company's workers might lose their jobs. In recent days, Twitter has made an effort to reassure its staff by requesting that they disregard rumours of impending layoffs.

As Musk balances funding Twitter's future with paying off the interest on the $12.5 billion in loans he took out to finance the transaction, Twitter's success will be crucial.

Given its erratic profits, analysts have questioned whether Twitter can afford to make those payments.

The market for those loans has fallen drastically since Musk launched his proposal in April, which will be painful for the investment banks that pieced them together.

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After Musk criticised the use of advertising on Twitter and suggested that the company should find another source of income, advertisers may be leery of doing business with him.

Other advertisers have decided to spend money on social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok while some have expressed scepticism about their brands being associated with dangerous content that Musk has stated should be permitted on Twitter.

In an open letter published on Thursday, Musk attempted to allay advertiser worries by indicating that some content control will continue.

“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences,” he wrote.

“Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world.”