Elon Musk told a Twitter lieutenant “all these damn birds have to go” when he took over the social media company last October. That was revealed last night, when his biographer exposed the reality behind the chaotic takeover.
Writer Walter Isaacson shared how the billionaire was initially “amused” by the gleeful logo, before being “turned off” by the way it was “placed all over the company’s offices.”
Since his acquisition, Twitter has come under fire for a slew of changes, most notably Musk’s decision to charge for verified users and the cold-blooded way he laid off hundreds of staff.
The new insight into the final days before the ownership transfer comes after it was revealed that Musk’s daughter cut all ties with him after allegedly becoming a “communist.”
Two days before the $44 billion purchase closed, Musk visited Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, where he toured the bright Art Deco building and quickly became disgusted with the bird synonymous with the company.
Elon Musk celebrates buying Twitter with colleagues on deal day by drinking bourbon
Musk is said to have hated the Twitter logo and spent months planning to turn it into an X
For months he had been planning to make the blue icon his X label, having bought the X.com domain years earlier. He was determined to make X an “everything app” that would take care of all financial and social matters.
Musk had wanted to turn payments giant PayPal into X, but was reportedly denied by business partners who thought it sounded too shady.
In the months leading up to the acquisition, Musk had considered creating his own social media company, similar to Twitter, but ultimately concluded that acquiring the company was the best bet.
But he soon regretted the hefty $44 billion price tag, which nearly landed the dispute in a Delaware court.
Musk was confident he could win the battle and reportedly told his lawyers of Twitter executives, “They’re worried about the dumpster they’re in.”
In the end, his lawyers managed to convince him that he would not win any lawsuit to reduce the agreed amount, and he reconciled to the deal.
On Wednesday, October 26, Musk visited Twitter headquarters to prepare for the closing of the deal.
Walter describes how Musk “likes dark and stormy drama more than light and light chatter” and said he walked around the offices ranting against the blue logo and the “woke-mind virus” he claimed was the company had taken over.
The deal was supposed to close on Friday, but in true Musk style, he decided to pull the trigger early.
Musk had wanted to turn payments giant PayPal into X, but was reportedly denied by business partners who thought it sounded too shady
Elon Musk has announced plans to do away with Twitter’s blocking feature and bring audio and video calls to the service
Audio and video calling will soon be available on the new X as Elon Musk aims to make his platform the go-to ‘global address book’
Rather than wait until morning, Musk hatched a callous plot to get rid of senior executives before their shares were vested.
In a “jujitsu maneuver” that was “courageous and even ruthless,” he hatched a plan to fire all top executives rather than allow the planned transfer.
The biographer tells how Musk received confirmation at 4:12 p.m. on Thursday that his money had been transferred and the deal closed.
At the exact same time, the executives’ Twitter email accounts were all shut down and letters were personally given to then-CEO Parag Agrawal and three other bosses – a calculated move to ensure they could not resign ahead of time.
Just six minutes later, security reportedly informed Musk that they had left the building. His takeover was complete.
Since becoming the owner of the company, Musk has made a series of controversial changes and has come under fire for laying off hundreds of employees.
He recently announced that he would be removing users’ ability to block other accounts. This applies to all aspects of the site, except private messages.
But there are serious concerns that the change will lead to a massive increase in abuse, which could have a detrimental effect on health if users can’t prevent people from viewing their profiles.
However, co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey supported this move, saying, “100. Mute only.”
Elsewhere, he has announced plans to bring audio and video calling to the platform, which could bring it closer to social media companies like Meta.
This was met with great concern from X users, with many fearing harassment and scams.
And this could only get worse, as Jake Moore, a Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, warns that cold calls may lie ahead.
“It looks like Musk has another idea in mind, but hasn’t fully planned it yet,” Moore told MailOnline.
‘Calling other profiles via social media apps like Instagram already exists, so as a function it doesn’t differ that much.
“However, when we remove follower blocking as a feature, X will have to adopt a way to prevent cold calls from reaching users who want to remain private.”