Elon Musk Will No Longer Join Twitter’s Board of Directors
By Movieguide® Staff
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that he would not join the board of directors for the social media platform Twitter.
After the billionaire called into question Twitter’s attack on free speech, many thought Musk would create a competing social media platform. Instead, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal welcomed Musk to their board of directors.
Musk, who was already a significant shareholder in Twitter, changed directions.
“Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective on 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he would not be joining the board,” Agrawal wrote in a statement to employees, which he later shared on Twitter. “I believe this is for the best.”
“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 note read. “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 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
Agrawal did not give a specific reason for Musk’s decision.
Former chief economist at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Chester Spatt, noted that Musk’s withdrawal could signal an ongoing assault to ensure free speech.
“At some point, he could throw the directors out, he could replace the board,” Spatt said. “He could probably launch that with his current 9% stake and potentially be very successful.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Musk’s Twitter endeavors:
Musk recently called out the social media company for its stringent policies on users’ free speech and even debated creating a social media competitor.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” he wrote on Twitter. “What should be done?”
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk bought approximately 73.5 million shares in the company.
Musk revealed that he had given “serious thought” to building a platform of his own that focuses on free speech. Other users encouraged Musk to buy Twitter completely.
Musk also conducted a Twitter poll that read:
‘Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?’
The poll received over 2 million votes, with 70% of users voting “no.”
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