Twitter (TWTR) shares slipped lower Friday after the social media group invited employees to a question-and-answer session with its newest board member, who also happens to be both its biggest shareholder and the world's richest man.
Elon Musk, who unveiled a 9.1% stake in the group -- now worth $3.5 billion -- earlier this week, has vowed to bring "significant improvements" to the micro-blogging website as part of his agreement to serve on the board.
That promise has lead to reports of anxious employees at the group's San Francisco headquarters, as well as a move by CEO Parag Agrawal to arrange a so-called 'Ask Me Anything' session with the newest board member.
Musk's relationship with Twitter -- which he called a "war zone" during his 60 Minutes interview in 2018 -- remains complicated, in that he is both a prolific user of the site as well as one of its more vocal critics.
Late last month, Musk said he was giving 'serious thought" to starting his own social media company, and accused Twitter of "failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy" given that the site "serves as the de facto public town square."
“We say that Twitter is what’s happening and what people are talking about right now ... that has certainly been the case this week,” Agrawal said in an email to employees late Thursday.
“Following our board announcement, many of you have had different types of questions about Elon Musk, and I want to welcome you to ask those questions to him,” Agrawal added.
Twitter shares were marked 0.85% lower in early Friday trading to change hands at $47.63 each, a move that would still leave the stock with a 20% gain since Musk first revealed his stake on Monday.
