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Elon Musk closes Twitter purchase, fires executives

A sign attached to Twitter’s global headquarters is viewed from a sidewalk on Market Street in San Francisco, California. June 18, 2014. (Photo: Matthew Keys/The Desk/Creative Commons)

Technology mogul Elon Musk closed on his $44 billion purchase of social media platform Twitter on Thursday, and he wasted no time firing several top executives at the website, according to a report.

On Thursday, the Washington Post said three top Twitter employees — Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Twitter’s head of legal policy, trust and safety Vijaya Gadde — were summarily fired after Musk’s purchase of the social media company went through.



The information was purportedly based on several anonymous sources who spoke with the newspaper Thursday evening. The alleged sources claimed the three executives were quickly escorted from Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters after Musk completed the purchase.

The New York Times later said it had confirmed those three executives were fired. The Times, who cited anonymous sources as well, said Twitter’s general counsel Sean Edgett was also fired.



Agrawal rose through the ranks at Twitter, joining as a software engineer in 2011 and eventually working his way up to the position of chief technology officer at the company. He was tapped to serve as Twitter’s CEO by founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped down from that position last November.

Segal joined Twitter as its chief financial officer in 2017 after serving as a director for the plant-based meat company Beyond Meat. Earlier this year, Segal reduced an annual bonus paid to Twitter employees after warning that the company’s revenue would be lower than anticipated due to economic turbulence.



Gadde was hired by Twitter as a general counsel in 2013. She eventually became the company’s head of legal, policy and trust and safety. According to reports, Gadde was one of several executives who convinced then-CEO Dorsey to enforce a controversial policy banning political advertisements on the platform during the 2020 election. The trust and safety team has faced similar criticism that Twitter’s policies have informal exceptions for high-profile users, who frequently post content that would ordinarily be considered a violation of its rules.

This is a developing story — please refresh this page for frequent updates…

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting. Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn by clicking or tapping here.
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