Musk has bought just over 9% of Twitter shares
(Picture: REUTERS)Tesla CEO Elon Musk will not be joining the board of Twitter, the social media giant has announced, reversing a move announced just last week.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the company’s CEO Parag Agrawal said: “Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective on 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining 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.”
Musk announced last week that he would join the board after buying a 9.2% stake in Twitter for $2.89 billion (£2.2 billion), sending shares soaring 26%. No reason was given for the reversal of the decision.
Agrawal previously welcomed the prospect of Musk joining the board, posting to Twitter on Tuesday: “Though conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our board.
“He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term.”
Musk is one of the most well-known personalities on Twitter with 81.3 million followers and over 17,000 tweets.
In recent days he has polled Twitter users on changes to be made to the platform, asking his followers “Do you want an edit button?” and mooting the idea of converting Twitter’s headquarters into a homeless shelter.
Musk has been a prominent critic of the platform. On Saturday, he quote-tweeted a list of the most followed Twitter accounts, saying: “Most of these “top” accounts tweet rarely and post very little content. Is Twitter dying?”
In December, he posted a soviet photo with Agrawal’s face photoshopped over the face of Stalin’s, in what some saw as a criticism of the CEO’s attitude towards free speech on the platform.
Agrawal became CEO in November and announced an ambitious goal to double revenues by the end of 2023.
