Elon Musk started the year as just a prominent Twitter user, but he ends it as its beleaguered owner set to step down as chief executive after a chaotic two months in charge. The Tesla and SpaceX owner launched his dramatic takeover bid in April after buying up enough shares to become the site’s biggest shareholder but then rejected a seat on the company’s board.
What followed was six months of public sparring as the billionaire criticised Twitter’s executives, policies, and statistics around spam accounts – at one point walking away from the deal – before a looming court case to settle the issue saw Mr Musk give in and pay the original price of 44 billion US dollars (£36 billion) to take control of the platform.
Before taking over, Mr Musk had said he planned to change Twitter’s content moderation policies to allow for more free speech, arguing it had too often censored people, and said he would allow suspended accounts – including former US president Donald Trump – to return. Those pledges sparked concern about Twitter’s future, with safety groups warning Mr Musk’s plans would lead to more abuse and misinformation spreading on the site.
