Elon Musk decides not to join Twitter board, says CEO Parag Agrawal

In an unexpected turn of events, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and the biggest shareholder of Twitter, has decided not to join the board of the micro-blogging platform.

The decision of Musk — who has made a raft of suggestions in recent days for Twitter, even wondering whether its headquarters should be turned into a homeless shelter — was made public by the platform’s India-origin CEO Parag Agarwal in a tweet on Sunday evening. With a 9.2 per cent stake, Musk is currently the biggest shareholder of Twitter, which had entered into an agreement with the billionaire whereby he will get a seat on the platform’s board till the 2024 annual shareholders’ meeting. He was to join the board on April 9.

Also read: Batt:RE to be RCB’s official EV partner for IPL

In a sudden turn of events, Agrawal tweeted saying, “Elon has decided not to join our board.” While the specific reason for the abrupt decision was not known, Agrawal said he believed Musk’s decision “is for the best” and that Twitter will “remain open to his input”. Musk, a tempestuous and extremely vocal billionaire, has also posted several suggestions, some radical, for the micro-blogging platform.

“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,” Agrawal tweeted. “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,” Agrawal said in his tweet.

Agrawal also said that there will be “distractions ahead” but that the 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 are building,” Twitter’s top boss said. Without divulging the reason behind Musk’s decision, Agrawal recounted that he and the board had many discussions about Musk’s 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,” Agrawal tweeted. Just over an hour after Agrawal’s post, Musk tweeted a cryptic single emoji although the tweet was deleted later. Musk’s shareholding in Twitter has also raised a volley of questions from several sections on how he might try to re-orient the micro-blogging platform.

As it is, the billionaire has been suggesting several changes around the platform, and has even floated surveys for users to provide their inputs. Musk asked his more than 81 million followers recently on whether Twitter headquarters should be turned into a homeless shelter “since no one shows up anyway”. In one of the tweets, Musk also quipped if Twitter may be “dying” as top accounts with maximum followers “tweet rarely and post very little content.”

Musk has bought 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter for about USD 3 billion. On April 4, Twitter entered into a letter agreement with the billionaire, which provided that the company will appoint Musk to its board to serve as a Class II director with a term expiring in 2024. Agrawal had tweeted at that time, “I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk (Elon Musk) to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board”.

He had also described Musk as both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service, which, according to him was required on Twitter and in the boardroom, to make the entity stronger in the long-term.