Twitter board dissolved, leaving Musk as sole director

Elon Musk has formally dissolved Twitter’s board of directors, cementing his control over the social media platform.

Elon Musk has become Twitter’s sole director after finalising his $US44 billion purchase of the social media site and dissolving its corporate board, documents filed Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed.

The documents state that the “consummation of the merger” occurred on October 27, at which point “Mr Musk became the sole director of Twitter,” while the entire board, including CEO Parag Agrawal, were let go.

When he made his initial buyout offer in April, Musk — also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX — stated that he intended to remove Twitter from the public market, after which fewer public disclosures would be required.

When the unpredictable billionaire tried to walk away from the deal, Twitter sued Musk in a Delaware court.

But with an October trial date looming, Musk revived the deal in early October, ultimately sealing the on-again, off-again takeover at $US54.20 per share last week.

As his first move he immediately sacked the company’s top executives, with Mr Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and head of legal policy, trust and safety Vijaya Gadde — who made the decision to permanently suspend former President Donald Trump from the platform — all shown the door.

In the lead-up to the takeover, Musk had publicly criticised the decision to ban Mr Trump.

“I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Musk told the Financial Times in May.

“Banning Trump from Twitter didn’t end Trump’s voice. It will amplify it among the right, and that is why it’s morally wrong and flat-out stupid.”

After changing his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit,” Musk reportedly worked over the weekend with software engineers from Tesla to look under the hood of the social media giant, as well as planning massive lay-offs.

Stream more tech news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer available for a limited time only >

Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California. Picture: Constanza Hevia/AFP

Bloomberg, citing a person “close to the matter”, reported on Friday that Musk intends to “do away with permanent bans on users because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions”.

He tried to calm the nerves of advertisers, Twitter’s main source of revenue, by reassuring them that the site would not become a “free-for-all hellscape,” and announced the formation of a content moderation council.

Despite widespread speculation that Mr Trump may rejoin his 89 million followers on Twitter, the former President insisted on Friday he was staying on Truth Social, his rival social media platform which launched early this year.

“I am staying on Truth,” Mr Trump told Fox News. “I like it better, I like the way it works. I like Elon, but I’m staying on Truth.”

On Sunday, meanwhile, reports emerged that Twitter planned to start charging users $US19.99 per month to keep their blue verification checkmarks.

“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk tweeted on Sunday.

The company plans to raise its optional $US4.99-a-month premium subscription called Twitter Blue to $19.99 a month and include verification as part of the deal, according to The Verge.

Existing verified users will have 90 days to subscribe to the new Twitter Blue after its launch or they’ll lose their checkmarks, the tech website reported.

The new Musk-led entity formed under the merger agreement has also offered to buy back all of Twitter’s outstanding bonds, according to the SEC filing.

Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, financed the massive deal through a mixture of his own funds, money from other investment groups and loans from banks which will have to be reimbursed.

According to another Twitter document filed with the SEC, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal has become the site’s second largest shareholder.

The businessman, who had initially rejected Musk’s offer as too low compared to Twitter’s “intrinsic value,” eventually contributed the nearly 35 million shares he already owned.

“Dear friend ‘Chief Twit’ @elonmusk,” wrote Al-Waleed on Twitter last Friday with a statement announcing the rollover of his shares.

“Together all the way,” he added, with an emoji of two hands shaking.

Originally published as Twitter board dissolved, leaving Musk as sole director