Twitter becomes 'Musk Mania' as he fires execs and takes over

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Twitter experienced an official takeover by tech mogul Elon Musk after its top executives were fired on Thursday by the new owner, meaning the social media platform is now under the control of the world's richest man.

Chief executive Parag Agrawal, alongside Twitter's chief financial officer and its head of safety, were kicked to the curb, according to The Washington Post and CNBC reports, citing unidentified sources. The reports were published mere hours before the deadline appointed by the court for Musk to close in on the Twitter purchase deal.

Musk tweeted earlier in the day that he was buying Twitter "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."  

Although no response by Twitter has been released directly regarding the departure of its executives, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone thanked Agrawal, Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde for their "collective contribution to Twitter", adding: "Massive talents, all, and beautiful humans each."  

Twitter and Musk have had a long-running history on the purchase deal that Musk tried to withdraw from after Twitter accepted his offer in April, stating that he was misled by Twitter over the fake "bot" accounts - a claim rejected by the company.  

Twitter then attempted to prove that Musk was saying so because he had changed his mind regarding the deal, and filed a lawsuit against him to hold him to the agreement. As the trial is still ongoing, Musk made an unpredicted move and restored his plan to take over Twitter. 

Twitter sued Musk for breach of contract, calling his exit strategy "a model of hypocrisy." The suit filed in the US state of Delaware urged the court to order the billionaire to complete his deal to buy Twitter, arguing that no financial penalty could repair the damage he has caused.

Musk changed his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" in light of the takeover, and posted a video of himself walking into Twitter's California headquarters carrying a sink with the caption "Let that sink in!" He even shared a picture of him and the employees socializing at a coffee bar at the HQ on Thursday.  

Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

Musk is not everyone's favorite, as some employees who do not prefer to work with him as CEO have already taken off, according to an anonymous worker: "But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now," the employee said.  

The new owner acknowledged that Twitter "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences." and has promised to turn down content moderation to a minimum, which could probably mean that former US President Donald Trump could make a comeback to the platform after he was blocked due to fear of inciting more violence following the Capitol riots. 

Far-right users were quick to take advantage of the moderation rule by posting comments such as "masks don't work", and "Free speech will always prevail" - tweeted by Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, which led to replies including "says the party that bans books."

Musk's takeover of one of the world's largest Big Tech platforms comes in congruence with the current geopolitical chaos he is currently stirring up with Washington's military elite. What has been giving him much leverage is his company, Starlink, which provides internet services around the world, making Musk a geopolitical player. 

Space companies are largely important in this day and age due to surpassing governments in terms of their abilities to grant technological and geopolitical powers they offer to those wielding their services.