Elon Musk has completed his $44bn takeover of Twitter, taking control of the company and reportedly firing several top executives, including the chief executive, Parag Agrawal. The world’s richest man tweeted “the bird is freed”, in a reference to Twitter’s corporate logo, just hours before a court-ordered deadline to buy the business expired. Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist”, said in May that he would reverse the ban on Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol. Today, Mr Trump said he was happy that Twitter was back in “sane hands” after the takeover.
Twitter permanently suspended the former US president’s account, which had more than 88 million followers, “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” after he spent weeks contesting the results of the 2020 election, inflaming tensions, before urging his supporters to march on Washington.
Mr Navarra said: “I think we’ll see controversial figures, such as Donald Trump and Kanye [West], reinstated fairly quickly, as that’s the easiest thing for Musk to do and will generate the most headlines.”
Even if Mr Trump’s suspension is reversed, he has previously claimed he has no plans to return to Twitter, instead opting to use his own platform, Truth Social. However, the lure of Twitter’s massive audience will likely be impossible to resist, particularly as he considers a run at the presidency in 2024.
