Musk to unpick Twitter code after closing $44bn takeover and sacking execs

Elon Musk has brought in Tesla engineers to unpick the central code of Twitter just hours after completing his $44 billion takeover of the social media giant.

Tesla-owner Musk finally brought an end to the long-running takeover saga, announcing he had closed the acquisition which was agreed in April. The billionaire reportedly removed a number of top executives immediately on completion, including Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

Though Twitter has yet to confirm completion, Musk tweeted “The bird is freed,” referencing the social platform’s famous bird logo.

He made immediate changes, with Bloomberg reporting that Musk brought in engineers from his electric vehicle firm Tesla to to meet with product leaders at Twitter HQ, where they were asked to show the engineers the company’s code system.

Twitter’s team were also locked out of the code, the report claims, from Noon yesterday, Bloomberg said citing anonymous sources.

Musk fired Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to Reuters. He had previously accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

The closing of the deal comes just prior to a court-imposed deadline that would have seen Musk facing a trial, after he initially tried to withdraw from his agreement with Twitter, claiming the firm had misled him over the number of fake accounts on its platform.

Twitter, in turn, sued Musk, asking a court to either force him to complete the acquisition of to impose a penalty on the billionaire.

Musk had long been a critic of Twitter, claiming that platform had been too heavy handed with blocks, bans and the removal of content. A self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, Musk said he would allow Twitter to function more openly.

Critics warned that the plans could lead to Twitter becoming a “Wild West” where misinformation could thrive. However, in a leaked letter to advertisers, Musk played down plans to get rid of content moderation, saying he would not let the platform become a “free-for-all hellscape”.

Earlier this week, Musk posted a bizarre video of himself entering Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters carrying a sink alongside the message: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in”.

Musk, who has updated his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”, said on Thursday he did not buy the social media platform to make more money but “to try to help humanity, whom I love.”