Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, intends to take over as the CEO of Twitter Inc., according to the news outlet Bloomberg on Friday. Musk, the richest man in the world, will lead the social media site after his $44 billion acquisition is complete. He is also the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Inc.
Bloomberg reported that Musk plans to replace Parag Agrawal, who was sacked along with other top executives after the takeover, citing a source with knowledge of the development. The billionaire is expected to continue serving as CEO in the short term but may eventually relinquish the position, in the long run, the person said. Bloomberg asked Twitter representatives for a response, but they declined to comment.
Whether Trump would be permitted to return to Twitter in the near future is unknown
After six months of public and legal fighting, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter places the world’s richest man in charge of a faltering social network. One of Musk’s first actions was to replace the leadership. The head of law, policy, and trust, Vijaya Gadde, joined Twitter in 2017, along with chief financial officer Ned Segal and general counsel Sean Edgett, who has worked for the company since 2012. Edgett was led outside by an escort.
According to the source, Musk does not support lifetime prohibitions, thus he plans to do away with permanent user bans as well. Donald Trump would fall into this category of those who have already been kicked off the platform, according to the source. Whether Trump would be permitted to return to Twitter in the near future is unknown.
Because many of Musk’s suggestions for changing the company are incompatible with the way it has been handled for years, the company’s operations will experience immediate disruption. He has stated that he wants to protect “free speech” on social media platforms.
Days after the 2021 Capitol uprising, Twitter suspended Trump due to the “potential of additional instigation of violence.” With the former president widely expected to make another run for the White House in 2024, a return to Twitter could grant him an opportunity to turbocharge his message. “The actions of Musk pose a danger to years of work by Twitter to lessen bullying and harassment on the network.”
Twitter to turn into a “free-for-all hellscape”
Musk’s leadership raises the possibility of less stringent content monitoring, raising worries that discussion on the social network may degrade, undermining years of work by the firm and its “trust and safety” team to eliminate offensive or harmful messages.
Musk wrote a message to advertisers on Thursday in an effort to convince them that he does not want Twitter to turn into a “free-for-all hellscape.” Musk spoke with engineers and advertising executives after arriving at the company’s headquarters on Wednesday. He changed the title of his Twitter account to “Chief Twit.”
Twitter’s engineers were no longer able to make code modifications as of noon on Thursday
The 51-year-old has pledged to change Twitter by relaxing the rules governing content moderation, improving algorithm transparency, fostering subscription businesses, and firing staff members. According to reports, he also scheduled meetings between Tesla engineers and Twitter’s product leadership and planned to address the workforce on Friday.
To ensure that nothing about the product changes prior to the deal closing, Twitter’s engineers were no longer able to make code modifications as of noon on Thursday in San Francisco.
Twitter agreed to take Musk’s offer to buy the social media platform privately in April. Musk quickly cast doubt on his willingness to uphold the deal, claiming that the business had not fully disclosed the quantity of spam and fake accounts using the site.