TIG Post

Tag: Parag Agrawal

  • Twitter users to pay $8 a month for ‘blue tick’ verification – Elon Musk

    Elon Musk, a billionaire and the new owner of the social networking site Twitter, has reversed a previous decision that required verified users to pay a monthly subscription fee of $19.99.

    The decision was made in response to criticism and questions about Musk’s motivations for assuming control of the platform so soon after paying $44 billion for it on October 27, 2022.

    In a related development, Elon Musk has now revealed that the “blue checked” customers of the “Twitter Blue” product will be required to pay a $8 monthly fee.

    He however indicated a change in the policy which only had certain specific personalities given a verified status on the platform.

    “Twitter’s current lords and peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bu%#*@it. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” Elon Musk wrote on Tuesday, November 1.

    “Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity,” he added.

    In a separate tweet on the subject, Elon Musk explained, “This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators. There will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.”

    Meanwhile, Elon Musks’ takeover of Twitter has begun to have a ripple effect on staff at the company and some users of the platform.

    After firing Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer, Ned Segal and Head of Policy, Vijaya Gadde, other employees have either resigned or have been fired from their respective positions as Elon Musk reportedly seeks to cut down about 70 percent of staff

    According to a Bloomberg report on October 28, Elon Musk is expected to take over the company as CEO and reverse lifetime bans on users who had violated the platform’s policies.

    Also, the fate of employees located in Twitter’s offices in key parts of Africa is yet to be known.

    The company, about a year ago, decided to expand its reach within Africa under its former executives and founder, Jack Dorsey.

  • World’s richest man purchases Twitter for $44 billion, fires three executives

    The most wealthy person in the world, Elon Musk, has concluded a deal to buy Twitter, one of the most important social media platforms.

    The $44 billion sale was finalized on October 27, 2022, and according to people familiar with the transaction, the platform will be controlled privately by the billionaire.

    Prior to the agreement, Musk and Twitter officials were in court because Musk had initially agreed to buy the platform in April of this year but had subsequently backed out over worries about the amount of bots and charges made by a whistleblower.

    The billionaire, who also owns electric car manufacturing company, Tesla has now fired Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer, Ned Segal and Head of Policy, Vijaya Gadde.

    The move is expected to further send shockwaves within the company which already has many of its staff in limbo over their future.

    According to a Bloomberg report on October 28, Elon Musk is expected to take over the company as CEO and reverse lifetime bans on users who had violated the platform’s policies.

    This could include former US president, Donald Trump while Musk believes Twitter’s practice of permanent bans is wrong.

    Meanwhile, the fate of employees located in Twitter’s offices in key parts of Africa is yet to be known.

    The company, about a year ago decided to expand its reach within Africa under its former executives and founder, Jack Dorsey.

  • In the Musk lawsuit, the CEO of Twitter will be interrogated

    The CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, will be questioned in a deposition on Monday as part of the ongoing legal action the company is pursuing to compel Elon Musk to finish buying the social media company for $44 billion.

    According to a court filing, lawyers for Musk are set to question Agrawal at 9 a.m. PT. Musk himself is set to be deposed by Twitter’s lawyers on Monday and Tuesday, according to an earlier court filing.
    The testimony comes as both sides barrel toward a high-profile trial set for mid-October.
    Musk has sought to extricate himself from the merger agreement, first by claiming that Twitter’s spam account problem is far greater than it has let on, and later by citing allegations of longstanding unaddressed security vulnerabilities disclosed by the company’s former head of security.
    Those allegations, which were also submitted to the US government under a whistleblower process, were first reported by CNN and The Washington Post last month.
    Monday’s deposition could force Agrawal to answer questions linked to the whistleblower allegations by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, who led Twitter’s security team from November 2020 until he was fired this January.
    Twitter has previously said that Zatko’s allegations paint a “false narrative” of the company and that Musk’s claims are “factually inaccurate, legally insufficient and commercially irrelevant.”
    Earlier this month, leading members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Agrawal a letter seeking similar information and requested responses by Sept. 26, but it is not clear whether Twitter has responded to the letter. The committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.