Tesla CEO, Elon Musk is now in charge of the social media company, Twitter.
Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, General Counsel Sean Edgett and Head of Legal Policy, Trust and Safety Vijaya Gadde. Sean Edgett, the company’s general counsel, was also pushed out, some people claimed. The top executives were hastily escorted out of the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Musk backed the reason for the former CEO Parag Agarwal's termination being that he had been accused of misleading him and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.
At least five top Twitter executives — including the chief marketing officer, the chief customer officer, the head of people and diversity, and the head of product — have departed the company in recent days, according to seven people with knowledge of the matter and public statements. Two announced their departures on Twitter on Tuesday; they did not say why they had quit. More executives may leave, the people claimed.
The CEO of electric car maker Tesla has said he wants to "defeat" spam bots on Twitter, make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available, and prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division, even as he limits censorship.
Musk has said he plans to rethink Twitter’s content moderation policies in service of a more maximalist approach to “free speech.” The billionaire has also said he disagrees with Twitter’s practice of permanent bans for those who repeatedly violate its rules, raising the possibility that several previously banned, controversial users could reemerge on the platform.
Perhaps most immediately, many will be watching to see how soon Musk could let former President Donald Trump back on the platform, as he has previously said he would do. Depending on the timing, such a move could have major implications for the upcoming US midterm elections, as well as the 2024 Presidential campaign.
The Tesla founder and CEO were appointed as Twitter’s CEO and Thursday and the closure of the deal ended a months-long, roller-coaster saga in which the billionaire, also the world’s richest person — conducted a hostile takeover to buy Twitter at an inflated price, only to renege on the deal and then enter into a bitter legal battle with the social network.