XPost: alt.politics.radical-left, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: alt.politics.media, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: NOT-SURE@idiocracy.gov   
      
   On 10/28/22 2:01 PM, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote:   
   > https://nypost.com/2022/10/27/elon-musk-completes-44b-twitter-takeover-   
   > begins-firing-execs-report/   
   >   
   > Elon Musk finally completed his $44 billion Twitter takeover deal, firing   
   > the company’s CEO and financial chief and ending a lengthy tug-of-war with   
   > its board of directors just before a key deadline, according to a source   
   > close to the situation.   
   >   
   > Musk took the struggling social network private late Thursday, ousting   
   > Chief Executive Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal,   
   > according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.   
   >   
   > Bloomberg News reported early Friday that Musk plans to take over as   
   > Twitter’s next CEO — at least on an interim basis.   
   >   
   > It wasn’t immediately clear who would replace Segal as CFO.   
   >   
   > Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the   
   > deal closed and were escorted out, sources said. Musk had accused them of   
   > misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on   
   > the social media platform.   
   >   
   > Musk also fired Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s top legal and policy executive,   
   > and Sean Edgett, general counsel, according to the Wall Street Journal.   
   >   
   > Gadde had been criticized by Musk for blocking links to the New York   
   > Post’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. She also made the decision to   
   > permanently ban then-President Donald Trump from the site after the   
   > January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, according to Axios.   
   >   
   > Soon after news of Musk’s Twitter acquisition broke, Bloomberg News also   
   > reported that he’s expected to reverse lifetime bans to past users of the   
   > social media platform.   
   >   
   > Musk has previously voiced his opposition to Twitter’s policy of shutting   
   > out accounts — especially that of former President Donald Trump.   
   >   
   > “Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts   
   > that are bots, or scam, spam accounts … I do think it was not correct to   
   > ban Donald Trump,” Musk said in May.   
   >   
   > Reps for Musk and Twitter officials couldn’t immediately be reached for   
   > comment.   
   >   
   > Musk, who also owns SpaceX, took to Twitter shortly after the deal broke   
   > to post images of his Falcon rocket launch.   
   >   
   > The mogul plans to hold a companywide town hall at Twitter’s San Francisco   
   > headquarters Friday.   
   >   
   > The agreement between Musk’s legal team and Twitter’s board was reached   
   > less than a day before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline imposed by Delaware   
   > Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick. Without a deal, Musk and Twitter   
   > would have clashed on opposite sides of a November trial.   
   >   
   > Under the deal’s terms, Musk will buy Twitter at the originally-agreed   
   > price of $54.20 per share. Musk has vowed to take the company private and   
   > reshape the platform with an emphasis on free speech.   
   >   
   > Twitter stock closed Thursday at $53.70 and the company’s shares will be   
   > suspended from trading on Friday, the New York Stock Exchange’s website   
   > showed.   
   >   
   > Agrawal, who replaced Twitter founder Jack Dorsey as CEO last November, is   
   > expected to walk away with a $42 million payout. Segal will reportedly   
   > pocket $25.5 million, while Dorsey stands to rake in nearly $1 billion.   
   >   
   > Musk signaled throughout the week that he intended to finalize the   
   > takeover deal. The eccentric billionaire changed his Twitter bio to “Chief   
   > Twit” and posted a video of himself barging into Twitter’s San Francisco   
   > headquarters carrying a sink.   
   >   
   > Musk’s involvement has renewed hand-wringing from Twitter employees who   
   > fear he will enact sweeping layoffs and other cost-cutting measures while   
   > reshaping the company’s business.   
   >   
   > The Tesla boss took steps to assure skeptics. During his office visit,   
   > Musk said he had no intention of slashing 75% of Twitter’s workforce upon   
   > taking control, as the Washington Post had reported.   
   >   
   > Musk also posted a lengthy message to Twitter’s advertisers, writing that   
   > he had no intention of turning the social media platform into a “free-for-   
   > all hellscape.” Critics had suggested that Musk’s aggressive stance on   
   > free speech would enable extremism voices to thrive on the platform.   
   >   
   > “The reason I acquired Twitter is because 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,” Musk said.   
   >   
   > Musk’s co-investors, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Saudi   
   > Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, are contributing $7.1 billion toward the deal.   
   > Banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are covering $13   
   > billion in debt financing.   
   >   
   > During Tesla’s earnings call earlier this month, Musk admitted that he was   
   > “obviously overpaying” to buy the firm, but added he felt the   
   “long-term   
   > potential for Twitter is an order of magnitude greater than its current   
   > value.”   
   >   
   > While Musk’s long-term plans for Twitter are still murky, the executive   
   > has called the company an “accelerant” for his goal of creating an   
   > “everything app” called X. The app is widely expected to mirror the   
   > Tencent-owned social media app WeChat, which offers a wide array of   
   > services ranging from payments to food delivery and ride-sharing.   
   >   
   > Earlier this month, Musk said the acquisition of Twitter “probably   
   > accelerates X by 3 to 5 years, but I could be wrong.”   
   >   
   > The closed deal followed a months-long saga that began in April when Musk   
   > disclosed that he had taken a sizable stake in Twitter. By April,   
   > Twitter’s board had accepted Musk’s offer to buy the company for $54.20   
   > per share, or $44 billion.   
   >   
   > Musk later attempted to back out of the agreement, citing concerns about   
   > the number of spam bots within Twitter’s user base and accusing the   
   > company of withholding key information about the issue.   
   >   
   > In July, Twitter’s board sued Musk in Delaware Chancery Court in an effort   
   > to enforce the original $44 billion deal by court order. As the trial   
   > approached, Musk reversed course again and signaled that he would honor   
   > the original agreement.   
   >   
   > With Post wires   
   >   
   >   
   And Bezos lost 12 Billion dollars just getting out of bed and opening   
   his mouth? For 3 times what Bezos lost he could have bought an entire   
   company based on people speaking or being censored, Bezos' censorship   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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