Elon Musk told a Twitter lieutenant ‘all these damn birds have got to go’ as he took on the social media company in October last year it was revealed last night, as his biographer lifted the lid on the reality behind the chaotic takeover.
Writer Walter Isaacson told how the billionaire was initially ‘amused’ by the chirpy logo, before becoming ‘repulsed’ by how it was ‘placed everywhere’ in the company’s offices.
Since his takeover, Twitter has come under fire for a host of changes, most notably Musk’s decision to start charging for users to be verified and the cold way he fired hundreds of members of staff.
The new insight into the final days before ownership transferred comes after it was revealed that Musk’s daughter cut all ties with him after allegedly becoming a ‘communist’.
Two days before the $44billion purchase was finalised, Musk visited Twitter HQ in San Francisco, where he took in the bright art-deco building and rapidly became disgusted by the bird synonymous with the company.
Elon Musk celebrates buying Twitter with colleagues on the day of the deal by drinking bourbon
Musk is said to have hated the Twitter logo and planned for months to turn it into an X
For months he had been planning to turn the blue icon into his X label, having purchased the domain X.com years prior. He had been determined to turn X into an ‘everything app’ that would handle all financial and social matters.
Musk had wanted to turn payment giant PayPal into X, but was reportedly denied by business partners who thought it sounded too seedy.
In the months prior to the takeover, Musk had been considering beginning his own social media company similar to Twitter, but eventually ruled that purchasing out the company was the best bet.
But he soon came to regret the pricey $44billion price tag, with the dispute almost ending up in a Delaware Court.
Musk was certain he could win the battle, and is said to have told his lawyers of the Twitter executives: ‘They are s****ing bricks about the dumpster fire they’re in.’
Eventually, his lawyers managed to convince him he would not win any court battle seeking to reduce the agreed sum, and he reconciled himself to the deal.
On Wednesday October 26, Musk visited Twitter’s HQ to prepare for the deal to be finalised.
Walter describes how Musk ‘relishes dark and stormy drama rather than chipper and light chattiness’ and said he walked around the offices as he raged against the blue logo and ‘woke-mind virus’ which he claimed had taken over the company.
The deal was due to be finalised on the Friday, but in true Musk style, he decided to pull the trigger early.
Musk had wanted to turn payment giant PayPal into X, but was reportedly denied by business partners who thought it sounded too seedy
Elon Musk announced plans to axe Twitter’s blocking feature and bring audio and video calls to the service
Audio and video calls will soon be available on the newly named X, as Elon Musk seeks to make his platform the go-to ‘global address book’
Rather than wait until the morning, Musk hatched a callous plot to get rid of members of the senior leadership before their stocks would vest.
In a ‘jujitsu manoeuvre’ that was ‘audacious, even ruthless’, he plotted to fire all of the chief executives rather than allow the smooth transfer that had been planned.
The biographer tells how at 4.12pm on the Thursday, Musk received confirmation his money had bene transferred and closed the deal.
At the same time precisely, the executives’ Twitter email accounts were all closed and hand-delivered letters were given to then-CEO Parag Agrawal and three other bosses – a calculated move to ensure they could not resign beforehand.
Just six minutes later, security is said to have informed Musk that they had been ‘exited’ from the building. His takeover was complete.
Since becoming the company’s owner, Musk has brought in a raft of controversial changes and came under fire for firing hundreds of members of staff.
Most recently he announced he would be getting rid of users’ ability to block other accounts. This will apply to all aspects of the site except for private messages.
But there are serious concerns that the change will lead to a vast increase of abuse, which could have a detrimental impact on health if users are unable to prevent people from viewing their profile.
However co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey supported the move, saying: ‘100. Mute only.’
Elsewhere, he has announced plans to bring audio and video calls to the platform, which could see it come closer to social media firms such as Meta.
This was met with floods of concern from X users, with many fearful of harassment and scams.
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And this may only worsen, as Jake Moore, a Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, warns that unsolicited calls may be on the horizon.
‘It seems Musk has once again got an idea in his head but not yet planned it through completely,’ Mr Moore told MailOnline.
‘Calling other profiles via social media apps such as Instagram already exists so it’s not too dissimilar to this as a feature.
‘However, when removing the blocking of followers as a feature, X will need to adopt a way of keeping unsolicited calls from reaching users wanting to remain private.’
