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.

Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal as well as the company’s chief financial officer and security chief, the Washington Post and CNBC reported, citing unnamed sources.

Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla boss on the terms of a takeover deal he was trying to escape from.

The reports came hours ahead of the court’s deadline for Musk to seal his deal to buy 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 shared digital city square where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy way.”

The New York Stock Exchange, meanwhile, posted a pending order to suspend trading on Twitter ahead of Friday’s meeting.

Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the departure of its top executives, but the platform’s co-founder, Biz Stone, tweeted thanking the three men for their “joint contribution to Twitter.”

“Massive talent, everyone, and beautiful people.”

The closing 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 back out of the Twitter deal shortly after accepting his unsolicited offer in April, and said in July he was canceling the deal because he was misled by Twitter about the number of fake “bot” accounts — allegations that which have been rejected by the company.

Twitter, in turn, tried to prove that Musk made up excuses to leave just because he changed his mind.

After Musk tried to end the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to keep Musk in the agreement.

As a lawsuit loomed, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.

Musk signaled this week that the deal was on track by changing his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit” and posting a video of himself walking into the company’s California headquarters with a sink.

“Let that sink!” he joked.

He even shared a picture of himself socializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters on Thursday.

Musk said during a recent Tesla conference call that he was “excited” about the Twitter deal even though he and the investors were “overpaid.”

Some employees who would rather not work for Musk have already left, said one employee, who asked to remain anonymous so that he could speak more freely.

“But some people, including me, are willing to trust him for the time being, when in doubt,” said the clerk.

The idea of ??Musk running Twitter has alarmed activists who fear an increase in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself notorious for deceiving other Twitter users.

But Musk said he recognizes that Twitter “can’t become a hellscape where anything can be said without consequences.”

Musk has vowed to keep content moderation to a bare minimum and is said to pave the way for former US President Donald Trump to return to the platform.

The then-president was blocked over fears he would incite more violence, like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington, to reverse his election loss.