Elon Musk fires entire board of directors, becomes sole director

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Nov 2022 09:32

Musk is now the sole director of Twitter.

Elon Musk fires entire board of directors, becomes the only director

Elon Musk fired Twitter's entire board of directors on Monday a week after finalizing the $44 billion acquisition of the social media company, rendering him the sole director of Twitter.

"This is just temporary," tweeted Musk after canceling out the company's leaders, including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and former chairman Bret Taylor.

Musk has also offered to buy back all of Twitter's outstanding bonds, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In another filing by the SEC, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal became Twitter's second-largest shareholder, which ignited concern with US Senator Chris Murphy.

"Today I am requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment — which reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign buyers — to conduct an investigation into the national security implications of Saudi Arabia's purchase of Twitter," tweeted Murphy.

"We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform," Murphy continued. "There is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review."

After OPEC+ refused to succumb to Washington's pressures regarding oil production - essentially cutting production by 2 million barrels - the Biden administration slammed Saudi Arabia and said it would have to reconsider its relations with the country.

Although Musk hasn't laid out the full plan regarding the changes he will be introducing to the platform, his criticism of censorship creates speculation that Musk will be easing moderation rules in addition to cutting down on the company's staff.

Musk also put forward a suggestion, though it is not official, which would charge users for verification.

The whole verification process is being revamped right now
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022

Twitter's blue subscription service fee, according to tech newsletter Platformer, would become a paid service, whereby users would have to pay $4.99 a month or lose their blue badge.