Chaotic and crass: a brief timeline of Elon Musk’s history with Twitter

The billionaire's purchase of humanity's digital town square' is a culmination of his controversial past on the platform

One of Twitter's most controversial users became its owner on Monday, after Elon Musk brokered a $44bn deal to buy the company.

The move was in many ways the culmination of the billionaire's long history with the platform. Musk has been on Twitter since 2009 and tweeted as early as 2017 expressing interest in buying it. He has also been a vocal critic of Twitter, calling for changes including rolling back content moderation and prioritizing a societal imperative" of free speech.