Elon Musk will not join Twitter’s board
Elon Musk will no longer be joining Twitter’s board, CEO Parag Agrawal revealed. Agrawal said last week that Musk would be named to the board after buying 9.2% of the company’s stock, but now says Musk has declined.
“We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance,” Agrawal writes. “Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”
Joining Twitter’s board would have kept Musk’s stake below 14.9%. Musk’s Twitter shareholding was worth $2.89 billion at the time of the purchase.
Musk has been actively tweeting about his ideas for the firm ever since his Twitter ownership was revealed, though it’s impossible to tell when he’s just mocking. The day before Twitter said it will introduce the long-requested feature, he ran a poll asking if it should have one. Recent suggestions include adding verification checkmarks to the pricey Twitter Blue service, and turning Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter “since no one shows up anyway.”
Parag Agrawal’s full message:
Elon Musk has decided not to join our Board. Here’s what I can share about what happened.
The Board and I had many discussions about Elon joining the board, and with Elon directly. We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks. We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.
We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same day that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.
There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged. The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no-one else’s. Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building.
