BENGALURU: Hours after taking control of Twitter, its new owner Elon Musk on Friday fired four top executives of the company — CEO Parag Agrawal, legal head Vijaya Gadde, chief financial officer Ned Segal and general counsel Sean Edgett. The sacked executives were reportedly “escorted out of Twitter’s office”.
They are entitled to anything between USD 100 million and USD 200 million in severance, according to US media reports. Musk, who calls himself a ‘free speech absolutist’, was highly critical of Twitter’s management and its content moderation policies. He had called out Gadde for her role in banning former US president Donald Trump’s account in January last year.
Earlier in the day, Musk tweeted: “The bird is freed... let the good times roll,” indicating completion of his takeover of Twitter. The dramatic developments are in line with Musk’s promise that he will change the way Twitter is run. He is expected to ease content moderation, comb out dummy accounts, and lift the ban on Trump. “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,” Musk tweeted.
The alacrity with which Musk fired the CEO shows his aggressiveness, says former Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari. “He has acquired Twitter at a high price. He would want to prove himself right and will continue to make bold moves,” he added.