Elon Musk reverses decision to join Twitter’s board, CEO Says

Tesla chief spent the weekend tweeting criticism about the social-media company.

Elon Musk is the largest shareholder in Twitter after revealing he had built up a 9.2 per cent stake. Picture: AFP

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal on Sunday night said billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has decided he won’t join the company’s board of directors.

The announcement of the reversal came after Mr Musk spent a weekend tweeting criticisms, suggestions and apparent jokes about the social media company.

Mr Musk tweeted about the social media company throughout the weekend. He asked his 81 million followers if they thought that Twitter was dying and pointed out that several top accounts, including those of artists Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, rarely tweet.

Other tweets seemed less serious.

“Delete the w in twitter?” Mr Musk asked his Twitter followers in a poll.

Mr Agrawal said that the board had many discussions with Mr Musk about joining. Mr Agrawal and the board were excited about collaborating with Mr Musk but expected him “to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders,” Mr Agrawal wrote Sunday night in a note posted on his Twitter account.

Mr Musk’s appointment was set to start on Saturday, but, Mr Musk “shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board,” Mr Agrawal wrote.

Most of the provocative tweets appeared to come after Mr Musk decided not to join the board. His weekend string of tweets started at around 9.30am. Eastern time on Saturday morning.

“I believe this is for the best,” Mr Agrawal wrote, referring to Mr Musk’s decision not to join the board. “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.”

Mr Musk tweeted an emoji of a face with a hand over its mouth on Sunday evening. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The drama that keeps on giving,” one Twitter employee tweeted Sunday evening. Another simply tweeted a photo of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants lying face flat on the floor.

“There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged,” Mr Agrawal wrote. “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.”
The Wall Street Journal