Elon Musk acquires Twitter, fires CEO Parag Agrawal

World's richest man Elon Musk has taken control of microblogging platform Twitter after finalising a $44 billion deal, and reportedly fired its chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company’s chief financial officer and its head of safety.

Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel, was also fired. Musk and Twitter have yet to confirm the firings.

The closure of the deal came as a surprise although Musk signaled the deal was on track by changing his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit.” Following the takeover, Musk tweeted “the bird is freed.”

Musk also posted a video of himself walking into the company’s California headquarters carrying a sink. “Let that sink in!” he tweeted.

the bird is freed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

Earlier this month, the billionaire offered to close the deal at the original price which began on April 4 when Musk disclosed a 9.2pc stake in the company. The Delaware judge presiding over the clash postponed the trial at Musk's request.  

Following his acquisition, Musk planned to cut jobs, leaving Twitter with approximately 7,500 employees.

Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, plans to lift permanent bans on users, according to media outlets.

Elon Musk is now the owner of Twitter