Elon Musk buys Twitter and Fires CEO: Is there Hope for Free Expression?

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Elon Musk Twitter Donald Trump

Elon Musk completes Twitter purchase and fires CEO

Is there Hope for Free Expression?

  • Musk plans on replacing ousted CEO Parag Agrawal for now
  • The billionaire also intends to scrap lifelong bans on users

Twitter Inc. is now owned by Elon Musk, with multiple media outlets reporting Thursday night that the long-anticipated sale had officially closed.

 

 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others reported, based on unnamed sources, that the top executives of Twitter TWTR, +0.66% were fired and escorted from the building, including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust and safety.

Related: Will Donald Trump Return to Twitter?

Musk himself is expected to assume the role of interim CEO, though in the longer term may appoint someone else, Bloomberg reported early Friday, citing unnamed sources. Twitter did not respond to a request by the publication for comment.

Realted: Elon Musk on the hook to pay more than $200 million to 3 fired Twitter execs

The acquisition ends months of legal wrangling after Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc. TSLA, +0.20% and SpaceX and a frequent Twitter user, offered to buy Twitter in April. After reaching an agreement with Twitter’s board to buy the social media company for $44 billion, Musk tried to back out of the deal and Twitter sued him. He faced a Friday deadline to complete the deal or face trial.

In a tweet late Thursday night, Musk said only: “the bird is freed.”