Elon Musk became the sole owner of Twitter. “The bird is free,” he tweeted just before six in the morning, referring to the logo of the social network of which he bought 100% of the share package for 44 billion dollars.
At the moment it is not clear what he wants to do with it, nor what are the plans for the future. But in fact today begins the new era of Twitter. An era that kicks off with the dismissal of some top managers of the company and many promises. First of all: making social media the platform for free speech. Musk is convinced to make it the place where humanity can express itself without censorship. Of course not everything will be allowed. But the stakes will not be too rigid, promises the entrepreneur. There are not many details at the moment on what will become Twitter.
The legal battle between Twitter and Musk
Also because, rather than discussing future plans, the last few months have been engulfed by a bitter battle between the managers of the social network and the new owner. Started already one month after the signing of the agreement. Musk first suspended the acquisition. Then he canceled it because he was convinced that the bots (fake accounts) on Twitter are many more than those declared by the platform (5%). An important question, because it is only from the number of real accounts that the value of the social network can be determined. Because it’s for real accounts that advertisers pay for ads. Then, in early October. A new rethink. And the confirmation that he would have bought the social network, within the terms agreed five months earlier.
It is therefore no coincidence that among the first objectives that Musk has set for Twitter is the cleaning of the platform from bots. But even here there are few details at the moment on the plan to make social a cleaner platform. However, some certainty has emerged in recent weeks, but on other fronts. Musk announced a staff reduction of 7,500 people, panicking nearly two-thirds of Twitter workers.
With the managers fired, the new era of Twitter begins
Many doubts remain about the business model that Musk has devised for his Twitter. In the months following the launch of the takeover bid, he said he wanted to free social media from advertising. And the social network currently owes 90% of its revenue to advertising. Then yesterday, in the late afternoon, Musk tried to reassure advertisers: “I believe in advertising, in the good one, in the one capable of letting people know about solutions to their problems”.
Meanwhile, yesterday Musk, just entered Twitter’s San Francisco office, fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and head of legal affairs and policy Vijaya Gadde. She accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors about the number of fake accounts on the platform. Sources tell Reuter that Agrawal and Segal were at Twitter’s San Francisco office at the time the deal was closed. And they would be escorted out on Musk’s direction.