Elon Musk Fires Twitter Board

Facts

• According to a Monday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Elon Musk has fired Twitter's entire board of directors, making himself its sole director.
• The dismissal of its nine-member board — which comes less than a week after Musk finalized the $44B takeover — includes chairman Bret Taylor and former Google CFO Patrick Pichette.
• Last week, Musk fired Twitter's former CEO, Parag Agrawal, and other top company officials, who were reportedly escorted out of Twitter headquarters by company security following his decision.
• The company's restructuring is expected to continue, with The Washington Post reporting on Monday that Musk’s team has been discussing letting go of 25% of Twitter's workforce — which had more than 7k employees in 2021 — in the first round of potential layoffs.
• This latest move is one of many modifications that the billionaire is reportedly contemplating and comes after Musk announced on Sunday that Twitter might revamp its entire approach to the blue verification badges displayed on profiles to authenticate users.
• The news also comes amid calls from US politicians to investigate Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's stake in the company, who announced he was rolling over his previous $1.9B in company stock, making him the company's biggest shareholder behind Musk.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Telegraph, DW, Guardian, National Review, and Sky News.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Fox News. Musk's acquisition is a real opportunity for Twitter to become free of biased censorship. With the billionaire entrepreneur at the helm, he can retain the general code of conduct to fight deceitful foreign influences while also allowing the marketplace of ideas to flourish, freeing it from nefarious "fact checkers."
• Left narrative, as provided by DW. While billionaires like Elon Musk may have the money to buy and influence social media platforms, they don't possess the character to manage them properly. Musk's Twitter history reveals an erratic personality with the potential to vastly alter the market with a single tweet simply to advance his own interest. With Twitter set to have no barriers to what can or cannot be said, the app is looking like a disaster waiting to happen.
• Cynical narrative, as provided by CNBC. The real concern regarding Twitter's workings is the Saudi Prince's financial stake in the company. Owning over 16% of the platform gives the authoritarian leader access to sensitive user data, which could have serious personal and national security implications. An investigation must be opened.