Elon Musk and Twitter have together become a major focal point over the past several weeks. The random internet campaign first began on Apr. 4, wherein news that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO purchased a majority share of the company back in mid-March proved to set the world aflame. The social media site no sooner voiced that Musk would become a board member, taking a seat amongst Twitter's board of directors, yet in a strange fit of musical chairs, it seems the executive has decided to ignore both the music and silence entirely.
Announced late Sunday evening, Apr. 10, Musk would, in fact, step away from his board seat opportunity. Voiced by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in an announcement posted to Twitter, the executive highlighted the odd steps taken over the past week surrounding Musk's joining of the board. Agrawal writes,
"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."
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
The Twitter CEO explained that despite his decision to walk away from the board seat, the company "will remain open to his input." Input that has been relatively odd of late, with the most recent comments made by Musk pertaining to converting Twitter's headquarters into a homeless shelter. The now-deleted Tweet was even reposted by the likes of Amazon head Jeff Bezos, who said that a portion of Twitter's headquarters could be turned into a shelter (and Musk even agreed).
Related Article: Jeff Bezos, Marc Andreesen Respond to Elon Musk's Tweet About Turning Twitter HQ into a Homeless Shelter
Musk's stance has been largely close and personal, with the CEO discussing everything from freedom of speech on the platform to altered Twitter service suggestions. Aside from his homeless shelter idea, Musk likewise relayed concepts of potentially allotting the highly coveted blue verified checkmark to customers who already bought into the Twitter Blue service, which essentially gives consumers more features (like Reader Mode, Undo Tweet, and Bookmark Folders).
It's unclear what specifically Musk's aims are by not taking the board seat, but it does set him up for a potential hostile takeover, given that he still owns a majority stake in the company. Taking the board seat would have disallowed Musk ownership over his nearly 14.9% stake in Twitter, worth around $2.89 billion. Since the announcement on Sunday, Musk has been busy deleting Tweets associated with the company.
The Verge has put out an incredibly well-rounded timeline of the entire week-long escapade. Agrawal likewise sent out internal employee emails explaining, quite tellingly, that "There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged." Musk even responded to Agrawal's post regarding his rescinding of the board seat with all-too Musk-esque emoji, which he no sooner deleted.
From the outside looking in, it seems like the Twitter head and Tesla CEO struck at odds following the board seat announcement. With the SEC still clinging to Musk's back and the overall ways he seems to tackle major issues by carefully manipulating his nearly 80 million follower base with all but 280 characters proves unwelcome at the Twitter headquarters.
The prospect most certainly seemed to be a viable option at the outset, but it's clear that both parties got cold feet. Musk's online behavior and bullish tactics may not be the best form for Twitter's future. Still, while he certainly had some grand ideas, not everything he had in store would become a reality even if he were to take a board seat, so the optics are still rather blurred.
