Despite the fact that he's already the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, it seems Musk is preparing to serve as Twitter's CEO on an interim basis.
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Elon Musk has officially bought Twitter, declaring: "The bird is freed."
The billionaire's $44 billion deal comes after months of drama and uncertainty, along with allegations that he was trying to back out of the takeover.
But threatened with a lawsuit that would force him to complete the acquisition, Musk relented and returned to the negotiating table.
Trading of Twitter stock has now been suspended on the New York Stock Exchange.
Signs that a deal was close came on Thursday, when he was pictured entering Twitter's headquarters carrying a sink.
News of the acquisition broke in a chaotic fashion — and reports soon suggested Musk had fired CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and head of legal Vijaya Gadde.
It's also been claimed that Twitter's general counsel, Sean Edgett, had to be escorted out of the building.
Musk had been on a collision course with these executives throughout the seven-month ordeal — with Gadde facing abusive tweets after she featured in a meme he posted in April.
Despite the fact that he's already the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, it seems Musk is preparing to serve as Twitter's CEO on an interim basis. Early on Friday, he tweeted:
"I will be digging in more today."
Musk Reveals His Motivation
In a tweet on Thursday, Musk attempted to reach out to Twitter's advertisers directly — and said that his acquisition wasn't motivated by money.
"The reason I acquired Twitter is 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, without resorting to violence. There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society."
He attacked the traditional media for "fueling and catering to these polarized extremes" in the "relentless pursuit of clicks."
And striking a conciliatory tone amid speculation Musk will place much less of an emphasis on moderation, he added:
"Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all."
