Elon Musk has opted not to join Twitter’s board after directors days after the SpaceX and Tesla founder became the social media site’s biggest shareholder.
Musk had previously teased the idea of launching his own social platform while criticizing Twitter’s free speech policy. A week later, it was revealed that the world’s richest man had purchased a 9 percent stake in company.
CNBC reports that Twitter subsequently had its best stock market performance since its IPO in 2013, and CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk would be joining the board.
Now Agrawal says Musk has abandoned plans to join Twitter’s board.
“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,” he tweeted.
No reasons were given, but Agrawal added that he believes Musk’s board absence is “for the best.”
“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,” he wrote.
“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 conlcuded.
Twitter’s stock briefly dropped more than 8 percent to less than $43 a share. At press time, it had recovered to over $47.
The amount of Twitter shares Musk could have acquired as a Twitter board member would have been capped at 14.9 percent if he’d joined, but he can now theoretically increase his ownership stake.
Before it was revealed that Musk declined a board seat, he’d tweeted a number of transformational ideas. One was a joke asking followers to vote on whether Twitter should drop the “w” from its name, while more serious suggestions included letting Twitter Blue subscribers pay with dogecoin, a cryptocurrency he supports.
“Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark,” Musk wrote of the service, which allows subscribers to undo tweets, add extra functions, and customize themes.
“And no ads. The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.”
In other Musk-related news, he recently took the stage at his Tesla Cyber Rodeo event at the EV company’s new Austin factory, where he offered updates on the long-delayed Cybertruck.
The all-electric, stainless steel pickup truck’s latest iteration was presented without door handles, which now open automatically, along with additional lighting, less dramatic wheels and a single large windshield blade, per Fox News.
Musk said that the Cybertruck will go on sale sometime in 2023, though no hard reveal date was given.