Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter and fired its top executives, according to US media reports late Thursday, in a deal that places one of the world’s most powerful platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world’s richest person.
According to the reports, citing unnamed sources, Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal, as well as the company’s chief financial officer and head of legal policy, trust, and safety.
Agrawal went to court to hold Tesla CEO Elon Musk accountable for the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to avoid.
In addition, the New York Stock Exchange announced a pending order to suspend Twitter trading before Friday’s session.
Musk attempted to back out of the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, saying in July that he was misled by Twitter about the number of fake “bot” accounts, allegations that the company denied.
Twitter, for its part, attempted to show Musk was making up reasons to leave simply because he changed his mind.
Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk after he attempted to terminate the sale.
With a trial on the horizon, the volatile billionaire capitulated and resurrected his takeover plan.
This week, Musk changed his Twitter handle to “Chief Twit” and posted a video of himself walking into the company’s California headquarters carrying a sink.
