Elon Musk announced Thursday evening the acquisition of the Twitter platform for $ 44 billion, which could herald a new phase of uncertainty for the social networking site that occupies a central position in the political and media life of the United States and many other countries. .
Musk quickly fired Twitter chief Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and chief legal officer Vijaya Gadi, according to CNBC and The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment from the AFP.
Musk had to close the deal by Friday or else he would have been tried in November for failing to implement the initial deal he signed with Twitter.
He later tweeted: “The bird has been released”, referring to the platform’s logo.
In April, Elon Musk signed a $ 44 billion deal to buy Twitter before dismantling it on his own initiative in July, accusing the platform of lying about the percentage of fake accounts and spam messages, claiming that the group was “deceiving” by intentionally increasing the number of accounts from which it can generate revenue.
On Wednesday, Musk visited the San Francisco Twitter office and changed his profile to “Chief Twit” in English.
Later, he posted a photo of himself surrounded by Twitter employees in one of the company’s coffee shops.
On Thursday evening, several employees of the US group expressed their support for the previous management of the company.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone tweeted: “Thanks to Parag Agrawal, Vijaya Gadi and Ned Segal for their collective contribution to Twitter. They are all extraordinary talents and everyone is a beautiful human being.”
– “The future of civilization”
In late April, shortly after signing the basic Twitter purchase agreement, Elon Musk publicly criticized Twitter officials and mocked Vijaya Gadi.
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter raises the concerns of much of the company’s employees, users of the platform, and non-governmental organizations that support social networks to combat abuse, harassment and disinformation.
Musk, who presents himself as a fierce defender of freedom of expression, intends to loosen control over the content posted on the platform. He paves the way for the return of former US President Donald Trump, who was banned from having a Twitter account, after expressing his support for his supporters who participated in the assault on Congress in January 2021.
Republican and pro-Trump lawmakers have welcomed the potential change in Twitter’s policy. For example, on Thursday evening, far-right lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Green tweeted “Freedom of expression !!!!” in English.
However, advertisers prefer, for example, to support their ads with content that is subject to some form of tracking and compliance.
On Thursday Musk tried to reassure them, confirming that he wanted to allow all opinion holders to express their opinions via Twitter, but without the platform becoming a “hellish place”. “Of course Twitter can’t become a hellish place where you can say anything without consequences,” he explained in a tweet.
“The reason I own Twitter is that it is important for the future of civilization to have a common digital arena in which a wide range of beliefs can be discussed in a healthy way, without resorting to violence,” he tweeted.
He stressed that he did not buy Twitter “because it is easy” or “to make more money”, but rather “to try to help people”.
– “voluntary departure”
Musk says he wants to step up the fight against fake accounts that send out spam messages. He also vaguely referred to his vision of an “X” multipurpose app, used as a messaging app and as a social networking and financial services platform, such as China’s WeChat.
A Twitter employee, who spoke to AFP without revealing his identity, said more than 700 employees have left the US group since June, according to internal data.
“Their departure is a voluntary departure, both for ethical and financial reasons, because the unlisted company is less attractive,” he said.
Musk plans to take Twitter out of the bag.
But he said earlier this month at a press conference that it was “essential” that Tesla be listed on Wall Street, “because if the public doesn’t like what Tesla is doing, they can buy stock and vote for change.”
“It’s very important that I don’t just do what I want,” he added, laughing.
Source: AFP
