Twitter Shares Gained 9% in Premarket as Musk Joins Twitter Board

Elon Musk has been appointed to the Twitter board just 24 hours after he acquired a 9.2% stake in the social media company.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the new board member has been restricted from acquiring more than a 14.9% stake in the company during his time on the board and three months after he leaves the board. The billionaire’s term on the Twitter board will expire in 2024 at Twitter’s annual meeting.

Twitter shares extended their gain by 9% after rising by 27% in the previous session, suggesting that the news delighted Twitter investors and Elon Musk’s over 80 million followers on the social media platform.

On Monday, 50 years old Elon Musk had set up a poll asking if his followers would like to have an edit button on Twitter, this was a few hours after the billionaire dumped $2.9 billion on a 9.2% stake in Twitter.

Speaking on the appointment, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, in a tweet, said he’s “excited” about appointing Musk to the board. “He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term.”

Musk is now the largest shareholder in the company and was likely appointed to the board to curb his individual decision-making and the possibility of using his 80 million followers and stake in the company to force the board of the company to compromise on core values.