Elon Musk will not be on Twitter’s board, social network chief executive Parag Agrawal said in a surprising reversal following last week’s announcement that Tesla and SpaceX executives had appointed to the panel.
“We announced on Tuesday that Elon will be appointed to the Board of Directors subject to a formal background check and acceptance process. The appointment of Elon to the board will officially take effect on September 4, but Elon shared on the morning of the same day that he will no longer be on the board,” Agrawal said in a tweet.
“We have been and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board of Directors or not. Elon is the largest shareholder and we will continue to make his comments public.”
Agrawal’s revelation follows Musk’s unusual tweets over the weekend where he wondered aloud to his more than 80 million followers if Twitter was dying, citing the low frequency of tweets from some of the most famous personalities on social networks. He also asked his followers if Twitter should turn its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.
Joining Twitter’s board would require Musk to cap his overall ownership of the social network at 14.9%.
Musk has bought 9.2% of Twitter shares, according to a filing he filed earlier this month. According to reports, Twitter stock jumped on the news, but some employees were cautious about the move, unable to say who was actually in charge of the company.
Over the weekend, Musk also suggested that Twitter should consider offering a checkmark to anyone who signs up for the company’s $3 monthly subscription service, Twitter Blue. “And no ads,” Musk outlined Twitter Blue’s features. “The power of corporations to make policy would be greatly enhanced if Twitter depended on advertising dollars to survive.”
