Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who bought the social network Twitter last week, dissolved the company’s board of directors after he fired some of its top executives a few days ago. The board of directors is usually the collegiate body that outlines the strategy of a company, among other things. Musk has appointed himself as the sole member of the board of directors: this means, in fact, that he has become CEO of Twitter, that is, the company’s CEO, thus strengthening his power within it. In a tweet, Musk said the decision is temporary: it is likely that in the coming weeks he will appoint a new board of directors made up of people closest and loyal to him.
Elon Musk has said Twitter will charge $8 (£7) monthly to Twitter users who want a blue tick by their name indicating a verified account.
As part of changes after a $44bn (£38bn) takeover of the social media site, Mr Musk said it was “essential to defeat spam/scam”.
A blue tick symbol next to a username – normally for high-profile figures – is currently free.
The move could make it harder to identify reliable sources, say critics.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, added that paid users would have priority in replies and searches, and half as many advertisements.
“Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” the billionaire said on Twitter, criticising the old method of blue tick verification as a “lords and peasants system”.
