Twitter Inc. has informed that Elon Musk will not be joining its board in a dramatic twist after a week-long saga that captivated the investors about the tech company’s future valuations.
Musk declined to join Twitter board
According to CEO Parag Agarwal, after a series of meetings and discussions with the directors of Twitter, the entrepreneur declined the offer to up a board seat. As per the Tweet of Agarwal, Musk informed his decision on April 9, the day he was supposed to join the board formally.
In an internal memo, the CEO said that despite the development, the goals and priorities of the company would remain unchanged.
The abrupt turnaround of Musk has renewed speculation about his intentions as he is the single largest shareholder at over 9% of the social media giant. With Musk not joining the board, he is no longer bound by the agreement for keeping his stake capped at 14.9%.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO and billionaire have been vocal about the changes he would like to make to the Twitter platform. Musk appealed to users about his prospective move of turning the Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco into a shelter for the homeless. He also wanted to add an edit button on tweets and grant automatic verification ticks for premium users. This open thought found support from Amazon.com Inc. founder and rival Jeff Bezos, among other personalities.
Musk posted a single emoji with a smiling face and hand over mouth over the explanation by Twitter CEO.
Twitter and Musk were supposed to host a Town Hall for employees, and it is uncertain if it will happen. Representatives for Twitter and Musk declined to comment.
Musk’s tweets had the social media enthralled after revelations about his stakes in the company. After that, the announcement about his joining the board sparked a debate with several market watchers tweeting about Musk staying away from the board to avoid conflict of interest if he increased his stake beyond the 9% or acquired the company outright.
Elon Musk is the world’s richest man according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is one of the biggest and most controversial personalities on Twitter. He could face scrutiny from the regulators as he had disclosed his stake after the deadline that regulators allow. He revealed his stake in a filing typically reserved for passive investments.
After the disclosure and joining the Twitter board swiftly would have complicated the process. Musk had already wanted to exit a 2018 deal with SEC about controls on his tweets on Tesla.
The Washington Post had cited internal messages on Thursday about some employees being concerned that Musk could damage the company’s work culture and make it harder for employees to do their job.
