New Twitter owner Elon Musk wasted no time disbanding the board of directors in a move that cements his firm control over the social media platform. He previously called the body “a waste of time.”
The company announced Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the billionaire entrepreneur was now the “sole director of Twitter.” The terms of agreement reportedly made clear that the move was his intention from the start.
The new owner and now sole director already fired former CEO Parag Agrawal, former chief financial officer Ned Segal, and top legal executive Vijaya Gadde just after the acquisition became final last week.
Interestingly, Musk indicated he has more to come concerning the now defunct board. He tweeted that some deliberately hid specific evidence from the court and advised to “stay tuned, more to come.”
The board that oversaw Twitter during its sale to Elon Musk has been dissolved, with the Tesla chief now serving as the social-media company’s sole director https://t.co/USfnyRl3rZ
— Anthony DeRosa (@Anthony) October 31, 2022
Even with the board and trio of executives gone, the new owner’s house cleaning may be just getting started. The New York Times reported that Musk and his advisory team held a meeting at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters in recent days.
Their purpose was to gather intel on each division’s function, and managers were requested to provide a list of “top performers.”
Other outlets noted that employees beginning in November were to begin receiving stock grants as part of their packages, meaning that further terminations may carry a cost in more grants.
For his part, the new owner now claims the unofficial title of “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator.” More seriously, Musk announced the coming formation of a “content moderation council” composed of a diversity of viewpoints.
He also emphasized that major content decisions and account reinstatements are on hold until the council begins its work.
There have, however, been several indications that Musk is rethinking Twitter’s content moderation policies. The self-declared “free speech absolutist” is obviously uncomfortable with indiscriminate censorship and permanent bans on individuals, which means more changes are coming.
One decision to be made is whether to rescind the permanent ban on former President Donald Trump. Whether the Republican would return to the platform is another issue, but Musk quite publicly criticized the decision before acquiring the company.
