Can someone give me a layman's explanation as to why taking Twitter private would allow Elon to make the changes he wants to make that he couldn't do if it was still public?
Twitter lost the trust of important users who have seen people censored for tweets that go against management's politics. Nobody thinks it's cool to build a community of hundreds of thousands of followers, only to be censored out at the most critical moment. That confidence will never be regained as long as Twitter has the same management and the same board. You would need to replace the board (the owners) and the management. Musk will also add his own name—a powerful brand itself—to Twitter's brand; but for the thing to work, Musk needs to be in full control. A private company also has less disclosure obligations, which is a valuable plus.
If he takes the company private (solo or with other investors), he'll make sure to have the votes to impose the CEO of his choice, with the option to change him/her whenever he pleases. That should be a sine qua non.
