It looks like Tesla CEO Elon Musk won’t be joining Twitter’s Board of Directors after all.
The new turn of events comes just days after Musk became the largest shareholder of the company, buying 9.2% of Twitter’s stock for nearly $3 billion. Shortly after, the company offered Musk a seat on their board of directors – even going so far as to list him as a member on their website.
Just before buying the shares, Musk, an avid proponent of free speech and a vocal critic of left-wing holy grails such as COVID lockdowns and infinite gender pronouns, had polled Twitter users asking if they believed the social media site upheld the principles of free speech. More than 70% of respondents replied, “no.”
Late Sunday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Musk had turned down a spot on the board after "many discussions" with the company, saying it's “for the best.”
“Elon Musk has decided not to join our board,” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a statement. “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,” Agrawal continued. “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.”
“There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged,” he cryptically warned, pointedly adding, “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.”
While Musk may not hold a seat on the company’s board, his decision to decline a spot also means he won’t be under the board’s share owner restriction, which restricts members to owning no more than 14.9% of Twitter shares for the duration of their membership and for two years after.
Since buying his shares and informally accepting a board seat, Musk had tweeted a number of times asking users about potential changes to the site, such as adding an “edit” button, automatic verification for users, and even turning the company’s headquarters into a homeless shelter because “no one shows up anyway.”