Elon Musk takes control of Twitter

Elon Musk, has completed his $44bn (£38.1bn) takeover of Twitter, according to a filing with the US government. Mr Musk tweeted "the bird is freed" and later said "let the good times roll".

The closure of the deal marked the finale of a long back-and-forth between the billionaire and the social network that had culminated in a Twitter lawsuit seeking to hold Musk to the transaction agreement.

Three of Twitter's top executives of Twitter have been fired Twitter CEO, CFO, policy chief and will pay $100 million (over ₹823 crore) in severance and earnings of previously granted equity awards. CEO Parag Agrawal may get roughly $50 million, while top legal and policy chief Vijaya Gadde and CFO Ned Segal may get $17 million and $37 million, respectively.

Vijaya Gadde was instrumental in getting former US President Donald Trump banned from the platform in wake of the 2021 riots at the US Capitol Hill. Trump had then set up his social media site Truth Social. Elon Musk is planning to become Twitter's CEO after reportedly firing Parag Agrawal.

A filing was made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, confirming the takeover. The New York Stock Exchange said on Friday that trading in Twitter's shares had been suspended, giving the reason as "merger effective".

Yet Musk has not offered details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company. He has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter's 7,500 employees fretting about their future. He also said on Thursday he did not buy Twitter to make more money but "to try to help humanity, whom I love."

Less that 10% of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blind expected to still have their jobs in three months. Blind allows employees to air grievances anonymously after they sign up with corporate emails.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone appeared to confirm the executives' departure. In a tweet, he thanked all three for their "collective contribution to Twitter", calling them "massive talents" and "beautiful humans".

Musk tried to calm Twitter employee fears that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter's content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.

The deal drew contrasting reactions, with former US president Donald Trump cheering the change of leadership on a platform that had banned him, while activists warned of a surge in harassment and misinformation.

European politicians were quick to signal to Musk that the continent had regulations for social media companies. "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules," tweeted Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner.

At the time, Twitter said there was a risk Mr Trump would incite further violence. But Mr Musk has described the ban as "foolish".