Elon Musk will not join the board of social media platform Twitter. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal shared the news early on Monday morning. “Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best,” Agrawal said.
Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing with you all here. pic.twitter.com/lfrXACavvk
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 11, 2022
Musk had bought nine per cent stake in the social media platform for about $3 billion, and was set to join the board. However, he has been 'trolling' on Twitter for the past couple of days, polling the public on topics as varied as instituting an edit button to removing the 'w' from Twitter, and converting the Twitter HQ in San Francisco into a homless shelter.
On April 4, Twitter entered into a letter agreement with the billionaire, which provides that the company will appoint Musk to its Board of Directors to serve as a Class II director with a term expiring in 2024. Musk will not, either alone or as a member of a group, become the beneficial owner of more than 14.9 per cent of Twitter's common stock outstanding at such time, including through derivative securities, swaps, or hedging transactions.
Interestingly, Musk last month had tweeted about the role of the social media firm in adhering to the principles of free speech. "Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy," Musk said on March 25 while retweeting a survey floated by him on whether "Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle". Over 70 per cent of the respondents voted against Twitter.
