Billionaire Elon Musk cackled as he carried a sink into Twitter's lobby.
"Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!," Musk tweeted alongside a video of his entrance on Oct. 26.
The bizarre moment marked the start of his chaotic leadership of the influential social media company. Musk offered to buy Twitter in April, then tried to back out of the deal, only to reverse course again after the company sued. By the time he strolled in with a white porcelain meme in hand, he had spent months fighting not to own it. But once he was boss, he wasted no time making his mark.
With massive layoffs, users flocking to alternatives and advertisers pulling back spending on Twitter, Musk acquired an embattled platform and turned it into a collapsing circus for all of its 238 million users – and the rest of the world – to watch.
"Twitter's future is especially uncertain – and it doesn't look good," said Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester.
The first public whisper that Musk was mulling a Twitter shakeup came as little more than a hint: He polled his followers with a tweet, asking if they thought that Twitter "rigorously adheres" to free speech principles. "The consequences of this poll will be important," Musk tweeted. "Please vote carefully,"
After 70% of 2 million voters answered "No," Musk in March purchased a roughly 9% stake in Twitter, making him its single largest shareholder.
In the following weeks, Musk was elusive about what he wanted to do about Twitter....
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