Parag Agrawal, the ex-CEO of the social media platform formerly named Twitter, made what appeared to be a straightforward decision, yet it may have paved the way for Elon Musk to eventually assume control of the company. As reported by Bloomberg in an upcoming book titled “Battle For The Bird,” Musk’s pursuit to acquire Twitter was initiated when Agrawal declined his request to suspend the @ElonJet handle, which was monitoring the location of Musk’s private jet. Musk believed that Twitter’s actions infringed upon his freedom of speech by disclosing his real-time coordinates.
The refusal to ban the account irked the billionaire, who began buying Twitter shares. He soon got so involved that he made a $44 billion offer for the service and tried to renege on the deal when tech stocks swooned in 2022. But he was ultimately forced to consummate the pact after Twitter sued him in Delaware court.
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After he bought the company, Musk quickly changed Twitter’s policies to his liking. He reversed Twitter’s strict fact-checking and content moderation policies and allowed many more spam accounts to appear on the site. This made some advertisers nervous, and they paused their Twitter ads. This was a massive problem for the company, as it made most of its revenue from advertising.
Some of his implemented changes also irritated employees, who complained about him to their managers. He also fired people on a whim and eliminated the COVID-era policy of granting mental health days for staff. According to text messages released by Twitter during discovery, he also discussed cutting staff by requiring that they work full time.
Musk’s plans for Twitter remain unclear, but he has said that he wants “civilization to have a common digital town square” and has promised to clean up the service of fake or spam accounts. He’s also raised the possibility of charging governments or companies to use the platform and talked about job cuts.
A new book explores how a $44 billion takeover of Twitter became one of US history’s most complicated corporate dramas. It reveals how the deal came together, how much of it fell apart, and how it ultimately ended with a court fight.