# Elon Musk drops plans to join Twitter board, deletes weekend tweets
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2022-04-11
Category: NEWS
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news
Meta Title: Elon Musk rejects Twitter Inc's board offer, sparking
Meta Description: Elon Musk turned down a board seat at Twitter, sparking speculation and uncertainty about his intentions. Find out more here.
URL: https://financedigest.com/elon-musk-drops-plans-to-join-twitter-board-deletes-weekend-tweetshtml

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By Abinaya V and Nivedita Balu

(Reuters) -Elon Musk rejected Twitter Inc’s offer to join its board, an abrupt turn even as he suggested ideas in a barrage of tweets ranging from removing advertisements to dropping the letter “w” in the social media company’s name.

The board held many discussions with Musk, Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal said in a note posted to the site on Sunday, while warning of “distractions ahead.” He did not, however, disclose the reason for the Tesla chief’s rejection.

The latest surprise [stoked chatter on everything ranging from the possibility of a buyout to his moves to avoid further attention](https://www.financedigest.com/cricket-not-enough-attention-paid-to-international-schedule-stokes.html "Cricket-Not enough attention paid to international schedule – Stokes") from the U.S. [Securities and Exchange](https://www.financedigest.com/vaultbank-exchange-launches-in-beta-opening-security-tokens-for-trading.html "Vaultbank Exchange Launches in Beta, Opening Security Tokens for Trading") Commission.

Musk was expected to join the board on April 9 following his disclosure of a 9.1% ownership of [Twitter shares](https://www.financedigest.com/twitter-shares-cruise-towards-musks-offer-price-as-deal-deadline-looms.html "Twitter shares cruise towards Musk’s offer price as deal deadline looms"), but the role would have capped his stake at 14.9%.

Sources told Reuters that [Musk had asked Twitter](https://www.financedigest.com/elon-musk-plans-to-cut-half-of-twitter-jobs-bloomberg-news.html "Elon Musk plans to cut half of Twitter jobs – Bloomberg News") for a board seat even before the company’s invitation.

With the rejection, Musk, who is now the company’s biggest shareholder, is free to [raise his stake](https://www.financedigest.com/chinas-tencent-raises-stake-in-assassins-creed-maker-ubisoft-2.html "China’s Tencent raises stake in ‘Assassin’s Creed’ maker Ubisoft") above that limit.

“I believe this is for the best,” Agrawal said in the note. “There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged.” (https://bit.ly/3usFqhe)

Musk, whose net [worth is pegged at $274 billion](https://www.financedigest.com/why-a-quiet-revolution-in-the-cloud-is-worth-billions.html "Why A Quiet Revolution In The Cloud Is Worth Billions") by Forbes, responded only with a face-with-hand-over-mouth emoticon on Twitter.

[Musk seems to have deleted the tweet](https://www.financedigest.com/musk-loses-bid-to-end-sec-agreement-on-oversight-of-tesla-tweets.html "Musk loses bid to end SEC agreement on oversight of Tesla tweets") and a number of others over the weekend, including his musings on removing ads and an authentication checkmark for Twitter subscribers who pay $3 a month.

Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist and has been critical of Twitter, disclosed the stake on April 4 and said he [planned to bring about significant improvements at the social media](https://www.financedigest.com/why-no-event-should-be-planned-without-a-social-media-strategy.html "Why No Event Should Be Planned Without a Social Media Strategy") platform.

The news has stoked widespread speculation on his intentions, ranging from a full takeover of the [platform to taking an active role in corporate decisions](https://www.financedigest.com/fico-provides-decisioning-platform-for-smartphone-only-buddybank-in-italy.html "FICO Provides Decisioning Platform for Smartphone-Only buddybank in Italy").

Musk’s latest decision [opens the possibility for him to take a larger position and potentially make an all-out bid](https://www.financedigest.com/eu-opens-antitrust-probe-into-broadcoms-61-billion-vmware-bid.html "EU opens antitrust probe into Broadcom’s billion VMware bid"), CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino wrote in a client note.

We had thought the equity cap and board seat was originally intended to handcuff Musk in many respects and think he is unlikely the type of individual who will now just [sell his stake](https://www.financedigest.com/intercos-fund-shareholders-l-catterton-otpp-sell-6-stake-at-7-discount.html "Intercos fund shareholders L Catterton, OTPP sell 6% stake at 7% discount") and walk away,” Zino added.

News of Musk taking a board seat had some Twitter employees panicking over the future of the [social media](https://www.financedigest.com/saudi-snitching-app-turns-citizens-into-social-media-police.html "Saudi snitching app turns citizens into social media police") company’s ability to moderate content, company sources told Reuters.

Before taking a stake, [Musk ran a Twitter](https://www.financedigest.com/musk-secures-46-5-billion-in-funding-for-twitter-bid.html "Musk secures .5 billion in funding for Twitter bid") poll asking users if they believed Twitter sticks to the principle of free speech.

A day after [becoming the largest](https://www.financedigest.com/bangladesh-moves-up-the-ranks-and-could-become-the-24th-largest-economy-by-2036.html "Bangladesh moves up the ranks and could become the 24th largest economy by 2036") shareholder, he launched another poll asking users if they wanted an edit button, a long-awaited feature on which Twitter has been working.

The Tesla boss also asked users in a poll if Twitter’s headquarters should be converted into a homeless shelter, a [plan backed](https://www.financedigest.com/back-to-black-germanys-coal-power-plan-hits-hurdles.html "Back to black? Germany’s coal power plan hits hurdles") by Amazon.com Inc’s founder Jeff Bezos.

On Saturday, [Musk suggested changes to the Twitter Blue](https://www.financedigest.com/musk-halts-twitters-coveted-blue-check-amid-proliferation-of-imposters.html "Musk halts Twitter’s coveted blue check amid proliferation of imposters") premium subscription service, including slashing its price, banning ads and providing a payment option in the cryptocurrency dogecoin.

I think what he realized is that by being on the board his voice will diminish and that’s [absolutely the last](https://www.financedigest.com/the-last-mile-of-statutory-reporting-is-absolutely-crucial-heres-how-one-global-company-does-it-with-onesource.html "The last mile of statutory reporting is absolutely crucial. Here’s how one global company does it with ONESOURCE") thing he wants,” Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald said.

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan, Nivedita Balu and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Miyoung Kim, Edmund Klamann and Anil D’Silva)


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