SAN FRANCISCO, United States —
Elon Musk is
no longer joining the board of Twitter, the CEO of the social media company
said late Sunday, in a reversal less than a week after announcing the Tesla and
SpaceX chief would be appointed.
اضافة اعلان
Musk was named to join the Twitter board after
buying a major stake in the firm and becoming its largest shareholder.
“Elon has decided not to join our board,” Twitter
CEO
Parag Agrawal tweeted.
“Elon’s appointment to the board was to become
officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning he will no longer
be joining the board,” Agrawal said.
“I believe this is for the best.”
Currently, the world’s richest man and with more
than 80 million followers on the microblogging platform, Musk last week
disclosed a purchase of 73.5 million shares — or 9.2 percent — of Twitter’s
common stock. His announcement sent Twitter shares soaring more than 25
percent.
Agrawal had announced on Tuesday that Musk would be
joining the board, describing him as “a passionate believer and intense critic
of the service which is exactly what we need”.
Musk himself tweeted that he was “Looking forward to
working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to
Twitter in coming months!”
In his announcement Sunday, Agrawal shared a note he
sent to Twitter, which said Musk’s appointment to the board would be contingent
on a background check and that he would have to act in the best interests of
the company once appointed.
“We have and will always value input from our
shareholders, whether they are on our board or not,” he said.
“Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain
open to his input,” Agrawal added.
Musk had agreed to limit his Twitter stake to a
maximum of 14.9 percent while serving on the board but could now in theory
increase his holding beyond that.
Polarizing figure
In an apparent reaction to
the news, Musk tweeted a smirking emoji, without any other comment.
The billionaire tech entrepreneur is a frequent
Twitter user, regularly mixing in inflammatory and controversial statements
about issues or other public figures with remarks that are whimsical or
business-focused.
He has also sparred repeatedly with federal
securities regulators, who cracked down on his social media use after a
purported effort to take Tesla private in 2018 fell apart.
Musk’s decision not to take a seat on the Twitter
board came after he tweeted Saturday asking whether the social media network
was “dying” and to call out users such as singer
Justin Bieber, who are highly
followed but rarely post.
“Most of these ‘top’ accounts tweet rarely and post
very little content,” the Tesla boss wrote, captioning a list of the 10
profiles with the most followers — a list which includes himself at number
eight, with 81 million followers.
“Is Twitter dying?” he asked.
In other weekend tweets, Musk posted joke polls on
whether to drop the “w” from Twitter’s name and on converting its San Franciso
headquarters to a homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway”.
He also suggested removing ads, Twitter’s main
source of revenue.
An outspoken and polarizing figure, the announcement
of his appointment to the board had sparked misgiving among some Twitter
employees, according to a Washington Post report.
Workers at the California-based social media company
cited worries about Musk’s statements on transgender issues and his reputation
as a difficult and driven leader, according to statements on Slack reviewed by
the Post.
A California agency has sued Tesla, alleging discrimination
and harassment against
Black workers. The electric carmaker has rejected the
charges, saying it opposes discrimination.
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