<\/p>\n
San Francisco \u2013 Elon Musk has hit the ground sprinting after his Twitter takeover, seeking major changes to the platform only days after finalising his controversial $44\u00a0billion (about R803bn) purchase.<\/p>\n
Documents filed on Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that Musk has become Twitter\u2019s sole director after finalising the deal last week and dissolving its corporate board.<\/p>\n
The documents state that the \u201cconsummation of the merger\u201d occurred on October 27, at which point \u201cMr Musk became the sole director of Twitter\u201d, while the entire board, including CEO Parag Agrawal, were let go.<\/p>\n
When he made his initial buyout offer in April, Musk \u2013 also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX \u2013 stated that he intended to remove Twitter from the public market, after which fewer public disclosures would be required.<\/p>\n
When the unpredictable billionaire tried to walk away from the deal, Twitter sued Musk in a Delaware court.<\/p>\n
But with an October trial date looming, Musk revived the deal in early October, ultimately sealing the takeover at $54.20 per share last week.<\/p>\n
After changing his Twitter bio to \u201cChief Twit\u201d, Musk reportedly worked with software engineers from Tesla at the weekend to look under the hood of the one-to-many messaging platform, and on planning massive retrenchments.<\/p>\n The team has reportedly been attempting to monetise Twitter\u2019s identity verification feature, which gives certain users a prized blue tick next to their profile.<\/p>\n One option, The Verge reports, would be to require verified users to sign up for the platform\u2019s paid subscription service, Twitter Blue, which at present costs just under $5 a month.<\/p>\n That price would increase to about $20 a month, and if unpaid, verified users would lose their blue tick.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole verification process is being revamped right now,\u201d tweeted Musk on Sunday.<\/p>\n The new boss has also asked teams to relaunch Vine by the end of the year, news site Axios reported.<\/p>\n Twitter bought the ultra-short video app in 2012, long before TikTok became the format\u2019s dominant player, but shuttered it four years later.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Washington Post\u201d has reported that the multi-billionaire plans to fire 75% of his new company\u2019s 7\u00a0500 employees.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s previous comments condemning Twitter\u2019s content moderation policies as heavy-handed \u2013 as well as his frequent posts of boundary-testing memes \u2013 has given pause to some advertisers, the company\u2019s main source of revenue.<\/p>\n He tried to calm the nerves by reassuring that the site would not become a \u201cfree-for-all hellscape\u201d, and announced the formation of a content moderation council.<\/p>\n On Monday, he travelled to New York, where his team met several advertisers to try to reassure them, according to business publication \u201cThe Information\u201d.<\/p>\n The new Musk-led entity formed under the merger agreement has also offered to buy back all of Twitter\u2019s outstanding bonds, according to the SEC filing.<\/p>\n Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, financed the massive deal through a mixture of his own funds, money from other investment groups and loans from banks which will have to be reimbursed.<\/p>\n According to another Twitter document filed with the SEC, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal has become the site\u2019s second largest shareholder.<\/p>\n The businessman, who had initially rejected Musk\u2019s offer as too low compared to Twitter\u2019s \u201cintrinsic value\u201d, eventually contributed the nearly 35\u00a0million shares he already owned.<\/p>\n \u201cDear friend \u2018Chief Twit\u2019 @elonmusk,\u201d wrote Al-Waleed on Twitter last Friday with a statement announcing the rollover of his shares.<\/p>\n Dear friend “Chief Twit” @elonmusk<\/a><\/p>\n Together all the way \ud83e\udd1d\ud83c\udffb @Twitter<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/J9rnd013xz pic.twitter.com\/bXo6RUaUwk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0644\u064a\u062f \u0628\u0646 \u0637\u0644\u0627\u0644 (@Alwaleed_Talal) October 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cTogether all the way,\u201d he added, with an emoji of two hands shaking.<\/p>\n AFP<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n