After all the hue and cry by Twitter’s largest shareholder Elon Musk over bringing changes to the social media platform, the company’s CEO Parag Agrawal said the billionaire has “decided not to join our board of directors”.
Musk was to join the Twitter board after the background check and formal acceptance. Notably, Agrawal mentioned that they believed Musk would have acted in the best interests of the company and all shareholders if he joined the board of directors.
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
Agrawal also said there will be distractions ahead, but their goals and priorities remain unchanged. “The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else’s,” he added.
A day after the SpaceX CEO disclosed that he acquired a 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter, Agrawal on April 5 said that the company would name the top shareholder to its board.
After Agarwal’s announcement, Musk also tweeted an emoji at 9:57 am.
🤭
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2022
The development has left netizens shocked and they have started guessing the reasons behind Musk’s retraction. A user raked up the meme Musk shared three days ago, showing him attending a Twitter board meeting in style. Some guessed that he refrained from the background check, others thought that it was Musk’s tactic to take over the company completely.
Some users also poked fun at Musk’s April 10 suggestion for Twitter Blue premium subscription services, removing the letter ‘w’ from Twitter, and converting the company headquarters in San Francisco to a homeless shelter.
— Tyler Milgate (@MilgateTyler) April 11, 2022
BREAKING: Drama
— Sawyer Merritt 📈🚀 (@SawyerMerritt) April 11, 2022
Elon Musk tweeted this 3 days ago: pic.twitter.com/rweBHvuF2T
— Fintwit (@fintwit_news) April 11, 2022
Elon: pic.twitter.com/NWlWnFVwsd
— Shubham Dutt (@shubhamdutt13) April 11, 2022
Here are some of Elon’s tweets about Twitter in the last few days: pic.twitter.com/UaJc2dvZop
— Fintwit (@fintwit_news) April 11, 2022
Eliminate all unreasonable pic.twitter.com/rAki6KGVFw
— Mr.Q (@Mr_Q44) April 11, 2022
IF @ELONMUSK JOINED THE BOARD HE COULD NOT BUY MORE THAN 14.9% OF THE COMPANY DOES ELON HAVE PLANS TO BUY A BIGGER STAKE ?https://t.co/19t85p3KgX
— Gurgavin (@gurgavin) April 11, 2022
Breaking: Twitter will not be renamed to Titter https://t.co/4MA4b7zdI9
— Jacquelyn Melinek (@jacqmelinek) April 11, 2022
He may do a hostile takeover now.
His prior agreement limited him to 14.9 percent ownership
— Zackery Parker🦄 (@mistman78) April 11, 2022
I want the same thing ! https://t.co/cSvKSDg7h9
— Call me Nil…🚀🇮🇳 (@MRLogiciann) April 11, 2022
Parag bhai (after knowing Elon’s decision): pic.twitter.com/YQ7IfR98Vp
— Smit Bhut 🇭🇳 (@SmitNBhut) April 11, 2022
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) April 11, 2022
Thank. God. For the love of Twitter. For so many reasons.
— Kelly (@Hummmmmbaby) April 11, 2022
Parag rn pic.twitter.com/bTEx8dtPt3
— Mohamed Enieb (@its_menieb) April 11, 2022
@elonmusk https://t.co/WHoED1DGpV
— ₿itcoin Ollie (@BitcoinOllie) April 11, 2022
Isn’t the implication that he failed the background check?
— Sam “RanchBoi” Offutt (@SamOffutt) April 11, 2022
@ImperialLuis1 Elon wont save Twitter pic.twitter.com/G3iPF3fgix
— MaoWashington (@MaoWashington76) April 11, 2022
Elon must have realized that some of his actions or demands may not be in the “direct interest of the company”. Hence the decision.
— Ravi B (@rbhagav) April 11, 2022
— Al (@crindal00) April 11, 2022
Musk first tweeted a poll on March 25, nearly 10 days after he had already acquired the stake, asking his followers if Twitter rigorously adhered to the principles of free speech.
He then conducted a poll on Twitter asking if the social media platform needs an edit button. Before that, he had tweeted that he is seriously thinking about starting a new social media platform.