Elon Musk has emerged from the battle over his $44bn takeover of Twitter to face an even more daunting task: trying to fix the social media platform he claims to love.

As the deal closed late on Thursday, a new era began for one of the most powerful communication tools to come out of Silicon Valley — but also for Musk himself, who can now add ‘social media mogul’ to his curriculum vitae.

The change in ownership has been welcomed by those who view the billionaire entrepreneur as the man to overhaul a struggling business they believe never reached its full potential. Already, the self-declared “Chief Twit” has outlined grand plans to inspire a faster pace of product innovation and shift into new revenue streams, while transforming to a leaner operation. On Thursday, he began cleaning house, firing top executives including chief executive Parag Agrawal and head of safety, Vijaya Gadde.