Loading player Unlike what was announced last week, Elon Musk will not become a member of the Twitter board. His possible direct involvement in the activities of the social network had been heavily commented in recent days, with analyzes on what the repercussions would be for society. Musk recently acquired 9.2 percent of Twitter's shares, becoming its largest shareholder and not hiding that he wanted to change some features.
The news of Musk's failure to join the board of directors was communicated by the CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, when in Italy it was just after five in the morning. Agrawal wrote that Musk's entry was scheduled for April 9, following a series of checks on the compatibility of his office with the rest of the activities (Musk is CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX): “But Elon there said that same day that he would no longer join the board of directors “.
At the moment it is not clear what were the evaluations that prompted Musk to give up, but in recent days various analysts had wondered how he could combine this new commitment with his other numerous activities. In this period Musk is managing the expansion of Tesla with the opening of new production plants in Texas and Germany, while with SpaceX he is working on the development of the Starlink satellite Internet service and the new Starship spaceship.
Before the news about the acquisition of the shares were even public, Musk had spread tweets showing that he wanted to change several things in the functioning of Twitter. Through some surveys aimed at the over 81 million people who follow him, Musk had proposed to make the Twitter algorithm accessible to all, to improve the guarantees regarding freedom of expression on the social network and to make tweets editable after their publication. , a feature that has long been requested by a large number of subscribers.
Agrawal welcomed Musk by saying he wanted to work together to improve Twitter and Jack Dorsey, the company's founder and former CEO, said he was in favor of joining the board. The social network had also confirmed that it was already working on the development of a change button, a topic that had returned to be discussed following Musk's online survey.
In the days after the announcement of the purchase of 9.2 percent of the company's shares, various analyzes were then circulated, especially on the role that Musk could have had on the board of directors. Twitter had made it clear that directors provide advice and evaluations in general, but that “ordinary activities and decisions are determined by Twitter executives and employees”.
Joining the board was also tied to another set of agreements, which prevented Musk from raising more than 14.9 percent of Twitter's stock, to prevent large-scale buy-outs that would have put the company under. full control of Musk, one of the richest people in the world.
Before he was released from the board of directors, Musk had posted a few memes on Twitter about his new commitment to the company. One showed how the sale of an old company of his had earned him more than $ 300 million, with which he then initiated investments in other companies and eventually in the automotive and space industries, earning new large profits used in part to buy the shares. Twitter and push the social network towards the introduction of the edit button.
pic.twitter.com/wcW6Z1MNNd
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2022
In another tweet, Musk had posted a still image of a famous video in which he smoked a joint, which read: “The next Twitter board will be a blast.”
pic.twitter .com / TW2lLQakE5
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2022
On April 9, the same day he announced his renouncement of his seat on the board of directors (information that would later become public today, that is a couple of days later), Musk had posted a series of tweets with the ten most followed accounts on Twitter and pointing out that most of them hadn't posted tweets in weeks if not months, then asking: “Is Twitter dying?”.
Most of these “top” accounts tweet rarely and post very little content.
Is Twitter dying? https://t.co/lj9rRXfDHE
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2022
On April 10, Musk had published other tweets, this time to propose that subscribers to the paid service Twitter Blue – to have some additional features of the social network – immediately have a check that certifies the authenticity of their account (but different from that already used for public figures) and the lack of advertisements in their feed. The tweet was then deleted in the early hours of Monday 11 April.
On the same day, Musk had published another poll, which was later deleted, asking his followers if they agreed to: “Convert the San Francisco headquarters of Twitter into a shelter for the homeless, since nobody ever goes there anyway” .
Over the years Musk has accustomed his followers, and not only, to a rather free and unpredictable use of Twitter, to the point that it is never completely clear whether his tweets are serious or jokes and teases. In some cases this ambiguity has cost Musk dearly, for example when he published information about his willingness to withdraw Tesla's shares from the market, a statement that influenced the company's stock market value. The withdrawal never happened and Musk was later investigated by the SEC, the US authority that oversees financial and investment-related activities.
After Agrawal made the news about the failure to join the board official, Musk posted a tweet with a single emoji showing a face covering its mouth with its hand. As with some messages published in recent days, after just over an hour Musk had then removed the tweet, confirming how difficult it is to take him seriously on Twitter or to rely on what he publishes.
In his brief statement, Agrawal wrote that he was convinced that Musk's choice “is for the best”, despite the fact that a few days ago he said he saw an important opportunity in having him as a new director: Agrawal however recalled that: “Elon remains our largest shareholder and we will continue to listen to his suggestions.”
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
It's unclear what Musk's involvement will be. A presence of him on the board of directors would probably have made his role less ambiguous than what he will be able to assume as a reference shareholder, but without official duties of any kind. Musk may also decide to further increase his shares, although at the moment it seems unlikely that he will decide to conduct a hostile purchase operation to take over full control of Twitter.
