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Elon Musk completes Twitter takeover and ‘fires top executives’
The world's richest man, Elon Musk, has completed his $44bn (£38.1bn) takeover of Twitter, the New York Stock Exchange has confirmed, the BBC reported.
Mr Musk tweeted "the bird is freed" and later said "let the good times roll", it said.
The completion of the deal brings to an end months of legal wrangling but it has prompted questions over the platform's future direction.
A number of top executives, including the boss, Parag Agrawal, have reportedly been fired.
Mr Agrawal and two other executives were escorted out of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on Thursday evening, said Reuters.
Chief financial officer Ned Segal, and the firm's top legal and policy executive, Vijaya Gadde, are leaving alongside Mr Agrawal, according to US media reports.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone appeared to confirm the executives' departure. In a tweet, he thanked all three for their "collective contribution to Twitter", calling them "massive talents" and "beautiful humans".
Mr Musk, a self-styled "free speech absolutist", has been critical of Twitter's management and its moderation policies.
They clashed over the terms of the takeover, with Mr Musk accusing Twitter of providing misleading information about the firm's user numbers.
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He has also said he would reverse bans on suspended users, which could include former US President Donald Trump, who was excluded following the Capitol riot in January 2021.
At the time, Twitter said there was a risk Mr Trump would incite further violence. But Mr Musk has described the ban as "foolish".
Earlier this week, Mr Musk said that he doesn't want the platform to become an echo chamber for hate and division. "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hell-scape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" he tweeted.
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The takeover has prompted discussion among Twitter users over what the platform will look like under Mr Musk's ownership.
There are fears that more lenient free speech policies would mean people banned for hate speech or disinformation may be invited back to the platform. As well as Mr Trump, that could include political extremists, QAnon loyalists and Covid-19 deniers.
In response to Mr Musk's missive, Thierry Breton the EU commissioner for the internal market tweeted "In Europe, the bird will fly by our EU rules" suggesting regulators will take a tough stance against any relaxation of Twitter's policies.
Meanwhile, Bret Taylor - who had served as Twitter's chairman since last November - updated his LinkedIn profile to indicate that he was no longer in the post.
Source: BBC
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