Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion

Elon Musk, the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX as well as the CEO and product architect of Tesla, bought Twitter last week. On Oct. 28, Musk spent $44 billion to come in as the new CEO and demanded current Twitter employees to redesign Twitter’s subscription and verification systems within the course of just one week. He is coming into this position with several pre-established ideas, tasks and deadlines, as well as several employees from his other companies, including Tesla, who are eligible to work for Twitter now too. Allegedly, these employees will code reviews and take positions on the Twitter staff now as well.

According to CNBC News, “Twitter employees say managers instructed them to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week to hit Musk’s aggressive deadlines, and that their jobs are at stake.” Although they were demanded to work these shifts, current Twitter employees claim that they are still unaware of Musk’s plans, cuts that may be made, budget of the company and long-term strategies that will be implemented as well. Musk claims that a main goal of his in this purchase is to promote free speech on Twitter. Musk announced his goal in a tweet that reads, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”