Elon Musk Will No Longer Join Twitter Board Twitter's CEO shared the news over the weekend as Musk tossed ideas around with Jeff Bezos about what to do with the company's HQ.
By Emily Rella Edited by Jessica Thomas
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
There's been quite a bit of news and criticism surrounding Elon Musk's recent acquisition of Twitter shares, which made him the largest shareholder of the company.
Most notably, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk would be invited to join Twitter's board of directors, saying that the billionaire would "bring great value" to the team and calling him both a "passionate believer" and "intense critic."
But late Sunday, Agrawal announced that Musk will not be joining the board as planned.
Related: Twitter CEO Issues Warning That Musk's Latest Poll Will Have 'Consequences': 'Please Vote Carefully'
Agrawal tweeted out a note, which he said he'd shared internally with the team, explaining what happened and noting that Musk was offered a seat on the board effective April 9.
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
"Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the Board. I believe this is for the best," the Twitter CEO penned. "We have and always will value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input."
Agrawal also addressed the chaos that has ensued since Musk acquired more than 9% of the company.
"There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged. The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else's," he said. "Let's tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we're building."
Related: Musk's Net Worth Increased By So Much on Monday He Could Buy Jeff Bezos' Megayacht 38 Times
Many pointed out that Agrawal's note also mentioned that Musk would have had to pass a background check in order to earn the seat, speculating that his hesitancy to complete one could possibly be a reason he rejected the seat, though Musk has confirmed none of this.
The news comes after Musk posted another infamous Twitter poll (this one since deleted), which asked followers if Twitter's HQ in San Francisco should be converted into a homeless shelter "since no one shows up anyway."
Musk's poll caught the eyes of longtime rival and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos, who replied back to Musk suggesting that Twitter convert a "portion" of its space to a homeless shelter, like Amazon did in its Seattle HQ.
"Worked out great and makes it easy for employees who want to volunteer," Bezos told Musk, who replied back "Great idea" in a subsequent Tweet.
Amazon's shelter, named Mary's Place Family Center, opened in March 2020 just as the pandemic began, something the company said was "life-saving for families experiencing homelessness."
The facilities can house 200 people each night and 1,000 people per year.
Billionaires sharing ideas for good? We'll take it!
Twitter was down around 34% year over year as of Monday afternoon.
