'The bird is freed': Musk Buys Twitter

 

In the early hours of this morning, Elon Musk tweeted, “the bird is freed”. It appears to be a zany – and very Musky – way to announce to users of the site that he has completed his $44bn takeover of Twitter.

If so, this was not a happy or easy acquisition: there have been U-turns and lawsuits, with Twitter taking Musk to court in the summer for allegedly reneging on his contract. Today was supposed to be deadline day. By 5pm New York time (10pm here in London), Musk either had to complete the deal or face an arduous legal battle.

He chose the former, with a little time to spare. And it looks as though Musk has wasted no time in getting started, with reports that several senior executives have already been fired, including CEO Parag Agrawal. A new era has begun.

Musk claims that he is doing this for the greater good: “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square,” he wrote in a social media post. He claims he didn’t do this to make money but “[to] help humanity, whom I love.” How noble. But like billionaires before him who have bought sports teams and newspapers, Musk’s decision to set his sights on Twitter may also be seen as a way to acquire soft power and to have a new toy to play with.

- Author: Nimo Omer, The Guardian