Elon Musk eyes more Twitter shares after rejecting board seat
Tesla chief exec Elon Musk has decided to not take up his seat on Twitter’s board despite owning nearly 10% of the firm. The U-turn came just a day after new chief exec Parag Agrawal announced Musk’s ascension.
Musk is Twitter’s largest shareholder. Joining the board came with a provision that Musk couldn’t buy more than 14.9% of Twitter shares. Reneging on his board seat makes it possible to purchase a bigger share in the social media giant.
- Last Monday, Tesla chief exec Elon Musk announced the purchase of a 9.2% share in Twitter.
- Twitter chief Parag Agrawal announced Musk’s intention to join Twitter’s board the next day.
- This Monday, Musk decided not to take his place on the board.
- Twitter employees are reportedly stressed about a potential hostile takeover amid falling share prices.
“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 wrote on Twitter.
“We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not,” he added.
In now-deleted tweets, Musk made two suggestions for new Twitter policies via the platform’s polling feature.
The polls included turning Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter and removing the ‘w’ from Twitter’s name.
At press time, Twitter’s share price has fallen more than 8% in five days, from $52 to $45.
Musk eyes more Twitter shares
A 13D filing on Monday hints Musk could soon purchase more stock — and continue to share his views on Twitter’s day-to-day management online and to the board.
“The Reporting Person may express his views to the Board and/or members of the Issuer’s management team and/or the public through social media or other channels with respect to the Issuer’s business, products and service offerings,” the filing read.
Indeed, after denying a seat on the board, Musk cancelled a Q&A session with Twitter staff. Employees were given a day off, a welcome move amid a reportedly “stressed out” work environment.
Bloomberg reports staff were unsure about the meeting; while it might have shed light on whether the Tesla chief would plan a hostile takeover, it also could have “raised further questions about how to react to his whims.”
Read more: [Measuring how much Elon Musk pumps crypto like Shiba Inu, Floki, Doge]
And while Twitter wrestles with its new major shareholder, its former chief exec Jack Dorsey is planning to use Tesla proprietary technology in a West Texas solar-powered Bitcoin mining farm.
At the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Blockstream founder Adam Back announced the electric vehicle maker would provide batteries to store solar power that will run a one-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility.
Jack Dorsey founded Twitter and acted as chief exec until November when Agrawal stepped up to the role.
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