- Elon Musk, the largest individual shareholder on Twitter has said no to board membership.
- The tech billionaire did not say exactly why, but the firm’s CEO maintains that it “will remain open to his input.”
Just a week ago, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man acquired a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter. This made him the largest single shareholder of the company, with four times the shares of its founder Jack Dorsey. However, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal recently shared that Musk has decided not to become part of the company’s board.
Of note, Musk buying into Twitter was likely prompted by his need to advocate for “free speech” on the site. The billionaire might have decided to address the platform’s censorship issues following the results of a Twitter poll he launched last month. Of his 79.1 million followers, more than 70 percent said Twitter does not adhere to the principles of free speech.
It is also likely he sought a share in the company since he is an avid Twitter user. The micro-blogging platform has been his go-to for posting both serious and funny matters, whereas the former have included major marketing-moving sentiments.
Elon Musk rejects board membership
But even with his motives, Musk has decided against joining the company’s board. Twitter was in the middle of absorbing Musk as a board member, as Agrawal noted last week. The process involved a background check and Elon’s formal acceptance. Twitter had already appointed Elon to the board contingent as of last Tuesday.
However, on Saturday morning, the tech billionaire said “he will no longer be joining the board.” In an email addressed to the Twitter team, Agrawal notes, among other things:
I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.
Elon’s version of Twitter
Other than freedom of speech, the Tesla Technoking has made additional suggestions on some of the changes Twitter should endorse. In late January, he slammed Twitter NFT avatars, saying the firm had more pressing matters it needed to look into.
And on Saturday, other than turning down board membership, Musk shared the idea of monthly subscription services for Twitter Blue. The latter is a paid version of Twitter that offers users exclusive access to premium features and app customizations.
The tech billionaire now opines that a fee as low as $3 a month could contribute positively to user verification. The move could also go a long way in tackling Twitter’s plague of rampant bots and impersonators. The controversial Twitter user “Mr.Whale” is among a list of persons alleged to have multiple Twitter accounts.
Additionally, Musk has also suggested Twitter accepts Dogecoin (DOGE) for payments, a campaign initially launched by the cryptocurrency’s founder.
While Musk may not be on the board, his thoughts as Agrawal said, will be given due consideration. Who knows? The Dogefather might get DOGE on the list of Twitter’s payment preferences.
