Elon Musk has fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. From blunt text messages and clashes over bots to lawsuits and a poop emoji, here’s a history of their relationship.

Musk & Agrawal appeared to first discuss in March

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk started buying Twitter stock on an almost-daily basis in January.

By the spring, Musk had collected a 9.2% share in Twitter, making him its biggest shareholder. Shortly after, it was revealed that Musk was going to be part of its board.

Messages between Musk and Agrawal have been launched in September as half of a lawsuit Twitter filed towards Musk.

“Hey Elon – great to be connected directly. Would love to chat,” Agrawal said in a message to Musk on March 27.

Musk, Agrawal, and Twitter chair Bret Taylor met for a meal close to San Jose on March 31.

“Great dinner :),” Musk messaged after.

“Memorable for multiple reasons,” Agrawal texted. “Really enjoyed it.”

Agrawal known as Musk “both a passionate believer and intense critic” of Twitter

“I’m super excited about the opportunity and look forward to working closely and finding ways to use your time as effectively as possible to improve Twitter and the public conversation,” Agrawal texted on April 3.

Agrawal introduced publicly that Musk was becoming a member of the board in a tweet on April 5, saying that Musk was “both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term.”

Agrawal warned Musk that not all Twitter employees favored him

On April 7, Agrawal asked Musk to communicate to Twitter employees and reply questions on “the future of Twitter and why it matters.” He warned Musk that there would even be some questions “from people who are upset that you are involved and generally don’t like you for some reason.”

“I think there is a large silent majority that is excited about you bring [sic] on the board,” Agrawal later added.

Musk texted Agrawal saying that he had “ton of ideas” for the platform, and Agrawal appeared keen to hear.

“I want to hear all the ideas — and I’ll tell you which ones I’ll make progress on,” Agrawal responded.

 

Musk requested whether or not Twitter was “dying” and then U-turned on becoming a member of its board

It did not take lengthy for the connection to bitter.

Musk tweeted on April 9 that some of Twitter’s most-followed accounts “tweet rarely and post very little content.” “Is Twitter dying?” he requested.

Agrawal understandably did not just like the tweet.

“You are free to tweet ‘is Twitter dying?’ or anything else about Twitter — but it’s my responsibility to tell you that it’s not helping me make Twitter better in the current context,” Agrawal texted Musk later that day.

“What did you get done this week?” Musk replied lower than two minutes later in a string of texts. “I’m not joining the board. This is a waste of time. Will make an offer to take Twitter private.”

“Can we talk?” Agrawal replied. Musk did not seem to reply to him, per the message logs printed as half of the lawsuit, however he did reply to a message from Taylor and advised him that Twitter wanted “drastic action.”

Agrawal mentioned it was “for the best” Musk did not be part of Twitter’s board

Two days after these messages have been despatched, Agrawal introduced that Musk would not be becoming a member of the board.

“I believe this is for the best,” Agrawal said.

 

Musk mentioned he wasn’t assured about Twitter’s administration

Musk made an offer to purchase Twitter for $54.20 a share in money, a Securities and Exchange Commission submitting on April 13 revealed.

In the submitting, Musk confirmed his lack of assist for Agrawal’s management.

“If the deal doesn’t work, given that I don’t have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” he wrote within the submitting.

Without the adjustments Musk sought, Twitter was “simply not a good investment,” he wrote.

Twitter agreed to the deal on April 25.

 

It was “clear” Musk and Agrawal could not work collectively, former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey mentioned

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acted as a mediator throughout a cellphone name between Agrawal and Musk on April 26.

Musk texted Dorsey afterwards, saying that Agrawal was “moving far too slowly and trying to please people who will not be happy no matter what he does.”

“At least it became clear that you can’t work together,” Dorsey replied. “That was clarifying.”

Musk accused Agrawal’s legal professionals of making an attempt to “cause trouble”

Musk texted Agrawal Twitter CFO Ned Segal on June 28 after they requested details about the standing of Musk’s financing for the deal.

“Your lawyers are using these conversations to cause trouble,” Musk texted, authorized filings reveal. “That needs to stop.”

Musk and Agrawal clashed repeatedly over bots

Musk has repeatedly expressed considerations in regards to the quantity of bot accounts on the platform.

In May, Musk appeared to be hesitant in regards to the Twitter deal, tweeting that he’d put it “on hold” till Twitter gave him extra information associated to the quantity of bots on the platform. He additionally told his lawyers to “slow down” the deal, text messages present.

Twitter says bots make up lower than 5% of the platform’s 238 million monetized every day energetic customers. Research by the digital-intelligence supplier Similarweb backs up these claims, however discovered that because these accounts tweet so much, between 20% and 29% of US Twitter content is generated by spam accounts.

Agrawal posted a thread on Twitter explaining why Musk’s plan to survey the quantity of bots on the platform was flawed. Musk responded to the thread with a poop emoji.

 

Musk backtracked on the deal

In July, Musk sent a letter to Twitter terminating the deal, claiming that the social-media large had withheld or distorted information on the quantity of bot accounts on the platform.

In some circumstances Twitter had refused to share information, whereas in others it gave him “incomplete or unusable information,” Musk’s legal professionals mentioned.

Twitter then sued Musk

Within days of Musk terminating the deal, Twitter sued him to power him to full the deal, accusing him of “refusing to honor his obligations.”

Musk countersued Twitter

Musk countersued later in July, alleging that the company intentionally miscounted the number of spam accounts as half of what he known as “its scheme to mislead investors about the company’s prospects.”

Musk continues to be adamant Twitter is mendacity in regards to the quantity of bots within the platform

In August, Musk called on Agrawal to take part in a “public debate” in regards to the share of bots on the platform. 

“Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!,” Musk wrote. 

Musk finally agreed to go forward with the $44 billion deal

After months of Musk making an attempt to abandon the deal, his lawyers sent Twitter a letter renewing the original offer on October 4.

Musk and Twitter came close to agreeing a deal at a roughly 8% discount for the tech mogul, sources advised Insider.

But the talks fell through after the 2 sides clashed, with Musk’s legal professional saying that Twitter’s executives and board needed “all kinds of things” within the renegotiated deal that the billionaire refused to settle for.

Musk rapidly fired Agrawal after taking management of Twitter on Thursday night time

The deal closing went via on Thursday night, simply hours earlier than the October 28 deadline given to Musk by court docket.

One of the tech mogul’s first moves was to fire Agrawal. The similar night, Musk additionally ousted CFO Ned Segal, chief authorized officer Vijaya Gadde, and normal counsel Sean Edgett, sources advised Insider.