Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter's board of directors and made himself sole director.

This is according to a securities filing on Oct. 31.

The multi-billionaire became the social media's chief executive, or "Chief Twit", after buying the company on Oct. 27 in a US$44 billion deal.

The nine ousted directors include a who’s-who of Silicon Valley: Bret Taylor, Parag Agrawal, Omid Kordestani, David Rosenblatt, Martha Lane Fox, Patrick Pichette, Egon Durban, Fei-Fei Li, and Mimi Alemayehou.

TechCrunch reported that the board of directors who were removed represented the former shareholders and it is not rare for a board to be cleared in such a manner, albeit never so publicly at such a large-scale company before.

The new directors installed will make up the decision-making and advisory body adjacent to company leadership.

What else is going to happen?

The new Twitter owner had already said he plans to rethink the company’s content moderation policies and permanent bans for users who previously violated the platform’s policies.

This includes looking into unbanning former U.S. president Donald Trump, although Musk said over the weekend that no major decisions have been made yet.

He said this on Oct. 29 and that the group will reflect “diverse viewpoints”.

Staff cuts to go ahead

The Washington Post reported that a first round of cuts is under discussion that could affect 25 per cent of the company's staff.

Cutting out users was also mooted.

Responding to a Twitter user calling for the platform to purge accounts that had been inactive for more than a year, Musk responded "definitely".

In a move that could further cull users, Twitter is planning to boost the price of its Blue subscription plan from US$5 to US$20 per month and make it mandatory for verified users, according to The Verge.

Verified users, if the subscription plan goes according to plan, will have to sign up to the service within 90 days or they'll lose the blue check mark.

And employees working on the project have reportedly been told they'll be fired unless they implement the changes by Nov. 7.

Pushbacks

There has been pushback.

Legendary horror author Stephen King said he should be paid instead for being on Twitter and that he would be gone from the platform in no time if the paid subscription plan comes to pass.

$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022

Twitter users were already reportedly leaving the platform when the Musk deal loomed.

Musk continues with sweeping change narrative

Musk's efforts in reshaping Twitter in his own image have continued.

He has since changed his Twitter bio from "Chief Twit" to "Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator", likely in response to the widespread outcry over his control over the social media platform.

He also created a poll asking if Vine -- a short-video format medium, which was a predecessor of TikTok -- should be brought back to Twitter.

Some 69.6 per cent of respondents voted "yes".

Bring back Vine?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2022

Top photos via Elon Musk Twitter