Elon Musk finally takes control of Twitter, a look at how the saga unfolded
Elon Musk has taken ownership of Twitter with brutal efficiency, firing top executives but providing little clarity over how he will achieve the ambitions he has outlined for the social media platform
Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover brings to a close an up-and-down saga that saw the world’s richest man backing off the deal and Twitter hauling him to court to force him to complete the takeover. A look at how the now-on-now-off deal unfolded. Musk’s stake in Twitter became public on April 4. Musk is offered a seat on Twitter’s board on the condition he amasses no more than 14.9 percent of the company’s stock. CEO Parag Agrawal tweets, “It became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board”. On April 14, Twitter reveals in a securities filing that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for about $44 billion. On July 8, Musk says he will abandon his offer to buy Twitter after the company failed to provide enough information on the number of fake accounts. Twitter sues Musk on July 12 to force him to complete the deal. Twitter describes Musk’s behaviour as “a model of bad faith”. The two sides traded arguments and documents in court filings in the subsequent months. On October 28, Musk acquires Twitter for $44 billion. Top executives, including the company’s CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and legal and policy executive Vijaya Gadde, are fired. (With inputs from agencies)