Elon Musk completes Twitter takeover and ‘fires top executives’

Shortly after taking the helm of Twitter, Musk reportedly ousted several senior figures, including Agrawal; Ned Segal, the chief financial officer; and Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal policy, trust and safety.

Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, Reuters reported.

Multiple outlets reported on Thursday evening that Musk had completed the deal, capping a chaotic saga that began when the billionaire first announced his plans to buy the company in April.

The reported firings followed news last week that Musk planned to eliminate nearly 75% of Twitter’s staff in an effort to pay down a debt burden that will have grown substantially since the acquisition, which is part-funded by borrowings of $13bn. Musk later dismissed those reports, telling employees he would not cut such a large portion of the staff.

A sense of confusion hung over the deal on Thursday night, however, with neither Twitter nor Musk immediately confirming the firings. Musk, who had earlier changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”, did not mention the dismissals after the news broke.

Twitter now enters a new chapter, with questions hanging over what Musk plans to do with a platform that plays an outsized role in the political and media landscape due to its following among journalists, commentators, celebrities and politicians.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/27/elon-musk-completes-t...