Elon Musk celebrates the one-year anniversary of acquiring Twitter with a tweet about “freeing the bird.” Explore the journey, changes, and challenges he faced in transforming the platform.
It’s been a year since Elon Musk’s significant acquisition of Twitter in October 2022. Musk marked this milestone with a tweet, reminiscent of his earlier post from October 28 last year, in which he declared, “the bird is freed,” alluding to Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo.
Musk’s path to Twitter ownership was marked by twists and turns. It commenced in the summer of 2022 when he secured nearly 10% of Twitter’s stock, becoming the platform’s largest individual investor. Although offered a board seat, he declined. Subsequently, Musk attempted to purchase Twitter, initially facing rejection, which led to a lawsuit. Eventually, he paid a hefty $44 billion to acquire the platform.
Freedom https://t.co/aIZXUJbhGc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2023
Post-acquisition, Musk swiftly initiated cost-cutting measures, involving layoffs and office closures. He introduced an $8 monthly fee for blue verification checkmarks to diversify Twitter’s income. Advertisers left but gradually returned. New features like monetization, extended messages, and live streaming were introduced. Twitter now boasts 500 million monthly active users and is undergoing a rebranding as “X.”
Musk’s primary goal was to foster freedom of speech on Twitter, envisioning it as a global town square for ideas and communication.