April 11 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc. (TWTR.N) The British Guardian newspaper said, on Sunday, that Elon Musk rejected her offer to join the board of directors of the social media company, in a dramatic turnaround within a week when the billionaire became its largest shareholder, and warned of more drama “that will distract attention in the future.”
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a note posted to Twitter that the company’s board of directors had several discussions with Musk, but he did not say why Tesla. (TSLA.O) CEO’s decision.
Agrawal said the scheduled date was set to take effect on Saturday, which would have prevented the world’s richest person from becoming a beneficial owner of more than 14.9% of Twitter’s common stock.
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“I think this is the best,” Agrawal said in the note. (https://bit.ly/3usFqhe) “There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged.”
The announcement was so surprising that Musk was still listed on Twitter’s board of directors on his website as of early Monday.
Musk, whose net worth is estimated at $274 billion by Forbes, only responded with an emoji on Twitter. Tesla did not immediately respond to an email sent to the company seeking comment from the CEO.
Musk, who calls himself an absolute freedom of expression and criticizes Twitter, disclosed his 9.1% stake on April 4, and said he plans to make major improvements to the social media platform. Read more
The disclosure of the stake sparked widespread speculation about his intentions, from taking full control of the platform to taking an active role in the company’s decisions.
Company sources told Reuters that news of Musk taking a seat on the board of directors has caused some Twitter employees to panic about the future of the social media company’s ability to edit content. Read more
Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has made announcements about his company and a variety of issues to his more than 80 million followers on the social media platform.
Before taking a stake, Musk conducted a Twitter poll asking users if they thought Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech.
A day after becoming the largest contributor, he launched another survey asking users if they wanted an edit button, a long-awaited feature that Twitter is working on. Read more
The Tesla boss also asked users in a poll whether Twitter headquarters should be converted into a homeless shelter, a plan backed by Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) Founder Jeff Bezos. Read more
On Saturday, Musk proposed changes to Twitter Blue’s premium subscription service, including lowering its price, banning ads, and giving the option to pay in cryptocurrency dogecoin. Read more
Shares of Twitter, which rose 27% on April 4 after Musk disclosed his stake, have lost 7.5% since then to Friday’s close.
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Additional reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing: Aaron Koyor, Myung Kim and Edmund Kelman
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
