Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter and fired its top executives, United States media report, in a deal that puts one of the top platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world's richest man.
Mr Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported late on Thursday (local time) citing unnamed sources.
Mr Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape.
The reports came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Mr Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.
Mr Musk tweeted on Thursday that he was buying Twitter "because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner."
The billionaire even shared a picture of himself socialising at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters.
And the New York Stock Exchange posted a pending order to suspend trading on Twitter before Friday's session.
'Chief Twit'
Mr Musk tried to step back from the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, and said in July he was cancelling the contract because he was misled by Twitter over the number of fake "bot" accounts — allegations rejected by the company.
Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Mr Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he changed his mind.
After Mr Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Mr Musk to the agreement.
With a trial looming, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.
Mr Musk signaled the deal was on track this week by changing his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" and posting a video of himself walking into the company's California headquarters carrying a sink.
"Let that sink in!" he quipped.
Mr Musk said during a recent Tesla earnings call that he was "excited" about the Twitter deal even though he and investors are "overpaying."
Twitter free-for-all?
Some employees who would prefer not to work for Mr Musk have already left, said a worker who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely.
"But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now," the employee said of Mr Musk.
The idea of Mr Musk running Twitter has alarmed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself known for trolling other Twitter users.
But Mr Musk said he realises Twitter "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences."
Mr Musk has vowed to dial content moderation back to a bare minimum, and is expected to clear the way for former US president Donald Trump to return to the platform.
The then-president was blocked due to concerns he would ignite more violence like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington to overturn his election loss.
