Photo: Alamy
In a surprising twist, Tesla CEO and multi-billionaire innovator Elon Musk declines to take a seat at the table with the Twitter board of directors after acquiring a 9.2 percent stake in the company.
Twitter’s chief executive officer, Parag Agrawal, shared in an official statement posted on the social media platform, “Elon Musk has decided not to join our board.”
Previously, Musk had hinted at “significant improvements” that would be coming to Twitter after Agrawal announced Musk’s appointment to the board of directors last week.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, Twitter’s stock skyrocketed last week after Musk invested in the company, but following the news that he would not accept a position on the board, stock fell 8 percent on Monday morning.
Interestingly, Musk’s move to dodge an appointment to the board of directors might actually position him to overhaul Twitter entirely.
For example, journalist Jordan Schachtel reported that if Musk had accepted his appointment to the board, he would have been capped at 14.9 shares in the company. As it stands right now, Musk remains an investor with a strong stake in Twitter, who could “pursue a hostile takeover,” as Schachtel put it.
Musk is no stranger to stirring up media frenzy and controversy. Before the SEC revealed his investment in Twitter, he previously posted polls and ideas regarding upgrades to Twitter’s function on his account following the news that he had acquired a sizeable stake in the company.
For example, he suggested on Saturday that users should be able to pay a fee to earn a verified blue checkmark on their Twitter accounts.
“Price should probably be ~ $2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn’t get checkmark for 60 days (watch for CC chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,” he stated.
Musk’s next move regarding his involvement with Twitter remains to be seen, but the unknown future seems to be putting Twitter’s CEO on edge. “There will be distractions ahead but our goals and priorities remain unchanged,” Agrawal said on Twitter.