Elon Musk has completed the $44 billion Twitter acquisition deal.
The Tesla CEO, who earlier said he was acquiring Twitter for humanity’s sake, announced the completion on his Twitter page tweeting “The bird is freed.”
Reports say Musk also plans to assume the role of Twitter CEO as he already sacked Parag Agrawal and other company top executives.
The reports added that the billionaire is expected to remain CEO in the interim but may eventually cede the role in the longer term.
Musk also intends to do away with permanent bans on users because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions. That means people previously booted out of the platform, including former U.S. president, Donald Trump, may be allowed to return.
What Elon Musk is saying
Elon Musk first hinted at completing the deal, yesterday, when he released a note on his Twitter page detailing why he is acquiring Twitter and what will be his agenda for the company after the acquisition. The post said:
- “The reason I acquired Twitter is that 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.”
- “In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarized extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.
- “I also very much believe that advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you; it can show you a service or product or medical treatment that you never knew existed, but is right for you. For this to be true, it is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is as relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content.
- “Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise. To everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you.
- “Let us build something extraordinary together. That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.”
- “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, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature.”
