Elon Musk has decided that he will not be joining the board of Twitter, sending rumours swirling about his plans for the social media platform.
Last week the business mogul became the company's largest shareholder, with a whopping nine percent stake in the social media giant.
Much of the online debate focusses on the fact that as a board member, Musk would not be allowed to increase his stake in Twitter beyond 14.9%. By rejecting Twitter's offer, he is able to pursue a hostile takeover bid using his significant personal fortune, which is estimated to be $274 billion.
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A significant amount of Musk's fortune is attributable to the success of his company Tesla, which is worth over $1 trillion, as well as his aerospace venture, SpaceX.
Musk's intentions are characteristically opaque and mischievously secretive. In a now-deleted tweet, one of his only comments since the announcement was of a hand covering the face emoji.
A second theory explaining Musk's behaviour emerged out of close reading of statement posted by Twitter's chief executive, Parag Agrawal.
Today's statement reads: “The board and I had many discussions about Elon joining the board, and with Elon directly. We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks. We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.
“We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. 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. 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.
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The internet has been fixated by the odd detail that Musk's membership of the board was 'contingent on a background check'.
It certainly is surprising that this sort of procedural detail was thought to be important enough for Agrawal to include in his short statement.
Optimism over Musk's involvement in Twitter boosted share prices last week. After Musk’s purchase of nine percent of the company was publicised, the stock's price rose 18 percent.
Despite today's theatrics, the Twitter executive remained stoical, concluding his statement with reassurance that: “There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged. The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else’s.”
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Alex Fleming-Brown