Elon Musk took control of Twitter and fired its top executives late Thursday in a deal that puts one of the leading platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world's richest man.

Following the takeover, Musk tweeted that "the bird is freed," referencing the company's iconic avian logo.

He wasted no time sacking chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported citing unnamed sources.

Agrawal previously went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a deal he had tried to escape.

The takeover came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.

Musk tweeted earlier in the day that he was buying Twitter "because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner."

Twitter did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the departure of its top executives, but the platform's co-founder Biz Stone thanked the trio — Agrawal, Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde — for their "collective contribution to Twitter."

"Massive talents, all, and beautiful humans each."

'Chief Twit'

The closure of the deal marks the culmination of a long and drawn-out back-and-forth between the billionaire and the social network.

Musk tried to step back from the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, and said in July he was canceling the contract because he was misled by Twitter over the number of fake "bot" accounts — allegations rejected by the company.

Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he changed his mind.

After Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Musk to the agreement.