Elon Musk clinched a deal to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion cash on Monday in a transaction that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest person.
It is a seminal moment for the 16-year-old company, which emerged as one of the world’s most influential public squares and now faces a string of challenges.
Musk has criticized Twitter’s moderation, calling himself a free speech absolutist, said that Twitter’s algorithm for prioritizing tweets should be public, and has criticized giving too much power on the service to corporations that advertise.
Meanwhile Twitter staff have been told that their jobs are safe for at least six months, until Elon Musk takes over under the terms of a $44 billion deal to take control of the company, agreed on Monday.
CEO Parag Agrawal and Bret Taylor, the chair of the board, addressed staff at 5pm on Monday – dodging questions about whether Donald Trump would be allowed to rejoin, and saying instead that it was a question for Musk.
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