Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register April 11 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc. (TWTR.N) announced Sunday that Elon Musk has turned down an offer to join the social networking company’s board, a dramatic turnaround in a week when the billionaire became its largest shareholder. and warned of more drama with “distractions ahead.” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a note posted on Twitter that the company’s board had many discussions with Musk, but did not give a reason for the decision by Tesla CEO (TSLA.O). Agrawal said the scheduled appointment was due to take effect on Saturday, which would prevent the richest man in the world from becoming the real owner of more than 14.9% of the common shares of Twitter. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “I think this is for the best,” Agrawal said in a statement. (“There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged.” The announcement was so abrupt that Musk was still listed on Twitter’s board on his website as of Monday morning. Musk, whose fortune is linked to $ 274 billion from Forbes, responded with just a face-to-mouth emoticon on Twitter. Tesla did not immediately respond to an email sent to the company asking for a comment from the CEO. Musk, who calls himself a dictator of free speech and criticizes Twitter, revealed a 9.1% stake on April 4 and said he planned to make significant improvements to the social networking platform. read more The revelation of the share sparked widespread speculation about its intentions, ranging from the full acquisition of the platform to taking an active role in corporate decisions. The news that Musk took a seat on the board caused some Twitter employees to panic about the future of the social networking company’s ability to control the content, company sources told Reuters. read more Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has made announcements about his company and a variety of topics to his more than 80 million followers on the social networking platform. Before taking a share, Musk conducted a Twitter poll asking users if they believed Twitter adhered to the principle of free speech. One day after becoming the largest shareholder, another poll was launched asking users if they wanted an edit button, a long-awaited feature that Twitter is working on. read more On Saturday, Musk proposed changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including price reductions, a ban on advertising and the ability to pay in the dogecoin cryptocurrency. read more Shares of Twitter, which soared 27% on April 4 after the revelation of Musk’s share, have lost 7.5% since then until the close on Friday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru. Editing by Arun Koyyur, Miyoung Kim and Edmund Klamann Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
