Elon Musk Dissolves Twitter Board to Cement His Control

Following the takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk, the new microblogging and social networking service owner, has dissolved the board of directors. This saw the removal of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ned Segal, Head of Legal, Policy and Trust Vijaya Gadde and General Counsel Sean Edgett.

Though relieved of their jobs, the three former top executives of Twitter are to receive severance and payouts of equity which runs into millions of dollars. The former CEO, Parag Agrawal, is to receive about $50 million; the CFO, Ned Segal, will receive about $37 million, and the head of legal, policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde, is to receive $17 million.

Although the dissolved board members received a payout, their dismissal from their position was meant with reactions and speculations. One such is the fact that Musk wants to gain total control. Despite this, the tech billionaire is undeterred as he continues to raise the dust with his different reforming plans in the company.

Regarding the new development in Twitter and the takeover, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder who left Twitter’s board in May 2020, said, “Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness”.

Apart from Elon Musk dissolving the board of directors, here are some of the new development going on in Twitter.

Acting CEO, along with his two other companies

The new development has seen the tech billionaire Elon Musk assume the position of the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter alongside his billion-dollar market-cap companies, Tesla and Twitter. He also made himself the Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator on his account profile. 

Being the acting CEO of Twitter and his plan of restructuring, Musk has engaged the engineers at Tesla to analyse Twitters’s software code. Although Musk is serving as the acting CEO, he also revealed that his position at the social media company is temporary.

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Changing from a public to a private company

The increasing funding opportunity Twitter received eventually led to its initial public offering (IPO) in 2013. This changed Twitter to a publicly traded company and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

On October 27, 2022, the company’s narrative changed when Elon Musk bought it for $44 billion. This made him the sole director of the social network, with the transfer of Jack Dorsey’s 18 million shares worth $978 million at the buyout price of $54.20. With the takeover, Musk is taking the company private after nearly a decade of being publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

To this effect, the NYSE announced the delisting of Twitter. According to the file released by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), “The New York Stock Exchange hereby notifies the SEC of its intention to remove the entire class of the stated securities from listing and registration on the Exchange at the opening of business on November 08, 2022, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 12d2-2 (a).

The merger between Twitter, Inc. and X Holdings II, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of X Holdings I, Inc., wholly owned by Elon R. Musk, became effective on October 27, 2022. Each share of Twitter, Inc. Common Stock was exchanged for $54.20 in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes. The Exchange also notifies the Securities and Exchange Commission that as a result of the above-indicated conditions, this security was suspended from trading before market open on October 28, 2022”.

Revamping the verification process

This was announced on October 30, 2022, on his Twitter page. He said, “The whole verification process is being revamped right now”. With the plan, he tasked Twitter workers to change Twitter’s Blue mark, an optional monthly subscription that unlocks additional features at $4.99, into a $20 monthly subscription option that verifies users.

The team were given an ultimatum of November 7, 2022. After the successful launch of the new feature, users that are already verified will have 90 days to subscribe under the existing arrangement to keep their blue checkmark. Otherwise, they will lose it.

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