"The bird is freed": Elon Musk now owns Twitter

Writer Samira Joineau
elon muskTwitter owner

After a never-ending story regarding the Twitter deal, Elon Musk is now the owner of the social media platform. The $44-million deal was officially concluded yesterday.

Elon Musk initially offered earlier this year to take over the Twitter company, and there were endless plot-twists in-between that pushed back the deadline to close the deal. According to Insider, it was only yesterday (October 27) that Twitter accepted Musk’s offer to “take the company private by paying $54.20 per share”. As soon as the news was official, the fresh-Twitter owner changed his Twitter bio, which now reads “Chief Twit”. Musk promises to open a new era in Twitter history.

 

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 i a healthy manner, without resorting to violenceElon Musk

 

Questions keep rising about the future of the social media platform. It is indeed important to consider that Musk already owns multiple companies in various sectors – automotive, space, internet. So what is going to happen now he leads a platform where millions of people exchange information and news? Addressing the Twitter Advertisers, Chief Twit (aka Musk) ensured that he does not want Twitter to “become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!

Elon Musk has reportedly talked about cost cutting and increasing revenue, in spite of his statement – during an on-stage interview – that Twitter is “not a way to make money”. Although he denies it, Musk plans to fire 75% of Twitter’s employees. On top of these job cuts, according to The Verge, governments and corporations could be charged a “slight cost” to use Twitter. The company’s employees are concerned and criticize Musk for his lack of transparency and clarity. This contrasts with Musk’s short videoshowing an enthusiastic face – visiting Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, where he met “a lot of cool people”. 

Musk appears to have plenty of ideas regarding the platform’s future, yet we cannot figure out yet what his plans are now. All we know is that he is eager to exploit and unleash Twitter’s potential, but at what cost?