This just seems like ridiculous speculation when the answer is far more likely to just be that someone at Twitter decided to steal the account and sell it.

Facts we know:

1) Pre-Elon Twitter employees took bribes for verifications

2) Pre-Elon Twitter employees would steal even active vanity handles for their friends or coworkers.

Why do we suddenly pretend neither of these things happened countless times and jump to this other conclusion when it's far more likely someone on their way out the door decided to make a few more bucks under the table from Twitter.