By Obinna Ezenwa
Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, has said Elon Musk has decided not to join the board of Twitter.
Mr Musk whose appointment was due to become effective on Saturday had revealed last week that he had bought a 9.2% stake in the social media platform.
However, Mr Agrawal in his tweet said: “Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.”
He added that the Tesla boss remains Twitter’s largest shareholder and the firm will remain open to his input.
Mr Agrawal said Twitter offered Mr Musk a seat on its board as the company had believed it was “the best path forward”, with board members having to “act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders”.
Addressing Mr Musk’s decision, Mr Agrawal said: “I believe this is for the best”.
“We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not,” he added.
“Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”
Mr Musk is the largest shareholder in the company, with more than four times the 2.25% shareholding of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Shares in Twitter soared by more than 27% last Monday after Mr Musk’s stake was revealed.
However, many Twitter employees have felt disgruntled by the announcement that the Tesla chief executive had become the largest shareholder in the company and was subsequently invited to join the board.
According to company insiders, there was anxiety over what impact he would have on the social media company’s ability to moderate content in the future.
Mr Musk seemed happy, Agrawal tweeted out his approval, as did Twitter’s former boss Dorsey.
The deal has been a welcome development for Twitter. Crucially, in exchange for a board seat, Mr Musk agreed not to buy more than 14.9% of the company.
His decision to reject the offer of a board seat now leaves the door open, if he so wishes, to take an even larger stake in the company.
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