Tesla boss Elon Musk has said business and government users may have to pay a "slight" fee to stay on Twitter.

However, Mr Musk said the site would always be free for "casual users", reports the BBC.

It comes after the board of the social media company agreed to a $44billion (£34.5bn) takeover offer from the entrepreneur who is the world's richest person, with an estimated net worth of around $250bn (£200bn).

Yesterday (May 3) he posted a tweet saying: "Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stonecutting services for nothing."

He followed it up today with a tweet which said: "Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users."

The news will come as a blow to many business owners who use Twitter as a way of promoting themselves and reaching customers. And any costs will eat further into already shrinking profit margins.

Since agreeing to buy the company, Mr Musk has said he wanted to make improvements to help increase the attractiveness of what he describes as a "niche" platform.

That includes introducing new features and making changes to its new premium subscription service Twitter Blue, including cutting its price.

The paid-for extra service will add features such as an "undo tweet" button, bookmarks, and a reader mode, Twitter said.

Mr Musk has also said he wants to remove spam bots from and authenticate all real people.

On Monday at the annual Met Gala in New York, he said he would make Twitter transparent about how tweets are promoted or demoted and wanted its software to be available for public scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the multi-billionaire has reportedly told potential investors that he may return the social media firm to the stock market in a few years.

His takeover of the company is expected to be completed later this year, subject to conditions including the approval of Twitter's shareholders and regulators.

Punchline says: "This is a massive gamble by Mr Musk. Business owners are already facing rising costs and anything that adds to the bottom line is a huge turnoff."This could lead to people leaving the platform and going elsewhere."