Elon Musk Says No to Twitter Board

Twitter Inc. had announced Elon Musk’s decision not to join the company’s board after a week of ‘many discussions’ with directors.

Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal disclosed via his official Twitter. According to the CEO, Musk informed Twitter of his decision on April 9, the same day he was slated to formally join the board.

Musk held “many discussions” with Twitter’s directors but the entrepreneur ultimately declined their offer to take a board seat, Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal tweeted. According to the CEO, Musk informed Twitter of his decision April 9, the same day he was slated to formally join the board.

“I believe this is for the best,” the Twitter CEO said in an internal memo shared late Sunday. “There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged.”

The abrupt reversal ignites renewed speculation about Musk’s intentions for Twitter since disclosing he had taken a stake of just over 9% — becoming the social media giant’s largest individual shareholder. If he doesn’t join the board, Musk would not be subject to an agreement to keep his stake at no more than 14.9%.

The billionaire behind Tesla Inc. and SpaceX has been vocal about changes he’d consider at the social media platform. Musk wasted no time in appealing to users about prospective moves from turning Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter and adding an edit button for tweets, to granting automatic verification marks to premium users. Those open musings drew in even Amazon.com Inc. founder and space-faring rival Jeff Bezos, among other high-profile personalities.

Musk posted a single emoji after the Twitter CEO’s explanation, a smiling face with a hand over its mouth.

Musk and Twitter executives had been expected to host a town-hall for employees this week, though it’s uncertain if that will proceed. Representatives for Musk and Twitter declined to comment.

Musk’s tweets have enthralled the social media sphere since the revelation of his stake. Twitter announced shortly after that the entrepreneur would be joining its board, spurring widespread debate. Several market-watchers tweeted that Musk may be staying off the board to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the future — were he to consider increasing his stake in Twitter or acquiring it outright.

Musk, CEO of automaker Tesla, is the world’s richest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s also one of the biggest personalities on Twitter and has regularly stirred controversy on the platform.