ELON Musk announced in a filing on Monday that he will be the chief executive officer of Twitter after acquiring the company for $44billion.
The move comes after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO fired former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and other top officials last week.
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The billionaire changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” as a subtle nod to the business decision.
After ending a months-long legal battle, Musk took over the social media company last week and has quickly been making changes.
All previous members of the Twitter board no longer have authority, according to an SEC filing.
It’s unclear why Musk decided to get rid of the Twitter board.
It’s been rumored that Musk has been planning staff cuts and allowing controversial former users back on the platform.
He also wants to charge Twitter users for the prized blue tick as part of sweeping changes since becoming the new owner.
According to The Verge, Musk, 51, has ordered staff to make the blue tick a perk within Twitter’s existing premium offering, Twitter Blue.
The optional tier currently costs $4.99, but apparently, he’s pushing for it to be increased to $19.99.
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Musk reportedly warned staff they have until November 7 to make the huge change or they’ll be fired.
Musk has already publicly teased that “the whole verification process is being revamped right now”.
The billionaire revealed some details about his plans for Twitter in a tweet he posted after taking over last week.
He addressed his message to “Twitter Advertisers” but it will also be of interest to regular Twitter users.
It states: “I wanted to reach out personally to share my motivation in acquiring Twitter.
“There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of it has been wrong.”
He continued: “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.
“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
He goes on to slam “traditional media” and says that a “relentless pursuit of clicks” is polarizing Twitter users in an extreme way.
He said: “That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy.
“I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love.
“And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.”
Musk caveated that he won’t let Twitter become a “free-for-all hellscape.”
He said users will still face consequences and will be able to set preferences for what they want to see.
