Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion

Elon Musk officially acquired Twitter today for $44 billion — then promptly fired several executives as soon as he stepped in the door. Between his relatively relaxed attitude toward content moderation and his assertions that up to 75 percent of Twitter's workforce will be cut, the reign of Musk is likely to bring numerous changes to the microblogging platform.

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Understandably, not all of them will be welcome.

Twitter's denizens had been apprehensively watching Musk's looming approach for months, some no doubt hoping the deal wouldn't end up going through. Now that it has, the reactions are pouring in.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk is reportedly now officially in charge at Twitter, fires top execs

Some users are suggesting everyone abandon Twitter for the greener pastures of LinkedIn or literally anywhere else. Others are proposing they stay and deliberately tank the website's value, much like Tumblr after Yahoo acquired it in 2013. Meanwhile, those celebrating Musk's takeover are taking full advantage of his promises of less discerning moderation by tweeting a whole bunch of slurs. This helps explain the first two reactions.

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As Musk acknowledged in a recent open letter to advertisers, letting Twitter become a "free-for-all hellscape" would not be ideal. Socially, such a result could have a devastating impact on matters like democracy and health education. At the very least it would put off some advertisers, which is probably more important to Musk considering advertising is Twitter's primary source of revenue.

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Yet despite this, Musk's statements have clearly emboldened some edgelords of the internet who believe he is their champion in their fight to post racist tweets without consequences.

Musk bought the social media company for about $44 billion, matching the original price he offered earlier this spring.

The Twitter deal has had a tumultuous year — Musk tried to back out of the agreement this summer, and Twitter sued him to force him to honor the deal. Just weeks before the matter was set to go to trial, Musk again offered to buy the company.

The entrepreneur, who changed his Twitter bio this week to read “Chief Twit,” is expected to take Twitter private and potentially lay off thousands of employees.

Elon Musk has purchased Twitter, ending a monthslong saga over whether or not he would go through with his offer to acquire the social media platform. WSJ takes an inside look at the tweets, texts and filings to see exactly how the battle played out. Illustration: Jordan Kranse

Elon Musk has officially taken control of Twitter after finalising a $44bn deal to buy the social media network.

In one of his first decisions at the helm of the social media giant, Musk, the world’s richest man, fired three top executives including CEO Parag Agrawal, multiple United States-based media outlets reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal, policy, and trust, were also let go, according to the reports.

Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel, was also fired, the Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed source.

Following the reports, Musk tweeted “the bird is freed”, referencing the social media network’s bird logo.

Musk and Twitter have yet to confirm the firings.

The Tesla CEO’s purchase caps a six-month saga that saw Twitter initially resist Musk’s purchase offer and then sue the billionaire after he signalled he would nix the deal over concerns about spam accounts and whistleblower claims about lax cybersecurity practices.

Musk’s interest in the platform has become a lightning rod for the debate around free speech in the digital age. Critics have expressed concerns that Musk’s reign could mean open slather for hate speech and misinformation, while many conservatives have heralded the takeover as a corrective to Big Tech censorship of politically incorrect views.

Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist”, has criticised Twitter’s moderation policies and objected to censorship that goes beyond the requirements of the law. In May, Musk said he would reinstate former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was removed for allegedly inciting violence in the wake of the January 6 riots at the US Capitol.

Musk has also expressed discomfort with the platform’s reliance on advertising and is widely anticipated to oversee significant job cuts at the company, although he has reportedly denied a Washington Post report suggesting he plans to slash 75 percent of the workforce.

In a lengthy message posted on Twitter before the purchase deadline on Friday, Musk, who earlier changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”, denied any intention to turn the platform into a “free-for-all hellscape”.

“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.

Musk, who has cast himself as a moderate, regularly weighs in on politics and has attracted criticism with unorthodox proposals for handling geopolitical flashpoints ranging from Taiwan to Ukraine.

The billionaire earlier this year announced he would vote Republican in upcoming elections as the Democrats had become the “party of division and hate”, but later said he supported moderate candidates from both parties.

Why did Elon buy Twitter for $44 billion?

Making Twitter a private company gives Mr. Musk some advantages, including not having to make quarterly financial disclosures. Private companies are also subject to less regulatory scrutiny. Layoffs. Just over a week after closing the deal, Mr. Musk eliminated nearly half of Twitter's work force, or about 3,700 jobs.

How much did Elon Musk buy Twitter for?

On April 14, he made an unsolicited offer to purchase the company; Twitter's board initially responded with a "poison pill" strategy to resist a hostile takeover, but unanimously accepted Musk's buyout offer of $44 billion on April 25.

Is Twitter worth $44 billion?

Elon Musk has finally completed his expensive bid to own Twitter. After months of back and forth, the world's richest man paid $44 billion (€44 billion) for the social media platform.

What did Elon Musk recently purchase for $44 billion?

Elon Musk has completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the company confirmed in a securities filing Friday, putting the world's richest man in charge of one of the world's most influential social media platforms.