According to paperwork submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, Musk became 'sole director' of Twitter following the completion of his $44 billion acquisition of the firm last week.

Later on Monday, the Tesla CEO tweeted that the arrangement will be 'temporary' without providing any other details. Musk, who also owns the space transportation firm SpaceX and the neurotechnology startup Neuralink, started his stint at the company on Thursday by sacking the CEO Parag Agrawal and the CFO Ned Segal. According to the SEC filing, Musk has also offered to purchase all of Twitter's existing bonds.

Musk, the richest man in the world, used a combination of his personal cash, investment capital, and bank loans to complete the acquisition of the business. Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi prince, rose to become Twitter's second-largest shareholder, according to a separate SEC filing.

Democratic senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy said he will ask the Committee on Foreign Involvement to look into the consequences of Saudi Arabia's investment in the platform for national security. An intensive discussion about how to strike a balance between free speech rights and safeguarding vulnerable groups from internet abuse has been sparked by Musk's acquisition of the influential social media platform.

Musk, a 'free-speech absolutist' who calls himself, has criticised Twitter's moderation practises and said that the website is biassed in favour of left-wing viewpoints.

Musk has not yet provided specifics about his plans for the platform, although it is widely anticipated that he will loosen moderation standards and reduce the company's employees significantly.

Musk has emphasised the necessity for a 'common digital town square' where a variety of viewpoints can be shared and discussed, while also noting that Twitter cannot be a 'free-for-all hellscape.'

Musk has expressed displeasure with Twitter's reliance on advertising. He has also expressed interest in charging users for the blue check mark used to verify well-known accounts and offering different versions of the platform based on a rating system akin to that used in movies.