Elon Musk says “it’s essential to have free speech” in his first all-hands meeting with Twitter employees: Watch

Tesla CEO and the soon-to-be Twitter owner told Twitter employees that “it’s essential to have free speech” and for people to be able to “communicate freely.” Musk made the statement today during a virtual all-hands meeting with Twitter employees. Musk also took questions from Twitter employees during the Q&A session.

In a video posted on Twitter, Musk told the employees that “It’s important to represent multiple opinions & not driving a narrative.” Musk also added that there needs to be transparency in order for people to have to trust Twitter.

Addressing Twitter employees for the first time and answering pre-submitted questions, Musk also said that Twitter employees doing “excellent” work should be allowed to continue working from home. But he also clarified that he strongly prefers to work in person.

“If someone can only work remotely, and they’re exceptional, it wouldn’t make sense to fire them,” Musk reiterated.

On April 25, Twitter agreed to sell the company to Elon Musk for $44 billion but the deal hit a few bumps on the road after Elon Musk’s lawyers sent a letter to Twitter threatening to terminate the $44 billion deal over the inflated user data. Last week, Twitter agreed to comply with Elon Musk’s bot data demands.

The $44 billion purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter. Musk needed to use his Tesla stock to raise $21 billion in equity to fund his takeover of the social media giant.

Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter.