Musk Decides Not to Join Twitter Board... Will He Buy More Shares?

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who had announced his intention to participate in management as the largest shareholder of Twitter, has ultimately decided not to join Twitter's board of directors.

On the 10th (local time), Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, posted on his Twitter account, "Yesterday, Musk informed us that he would not be joining the Twitter board," conveying this news. Agrawal explained that after extensive discussions with Musk, he made this decision, and that Musk notified them of his decision not to join the board on the day the outside director appointment took effect.

In an internal memo sent to employees, Agrawal also stated, "I believe this decision was for the best," adding, "There may be distractions ahead as we pursue our goals, but our objectives and priorities will not change. For now, let's turn down the noise and focus on our work and what we are building." This message is interpreted as an effort by Agrawal to soothe employees' concerns amid the flood of reports surrounding Twitter following Musk's share acquisition.

About 30 minutes after Agrawal's tweet, Musk posted an emoticon on Twitter showing himself smiling while covering his mouth. Earlier, when Musk purchased Twitter shares, he had declared to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that his purpose was as a passive investor (13G) with no intention to influence the company's operations, but after being appointed to the Twitter board, he changed his status to an active investor (13D). On the 9th, the day he notified this decision, Musk also posted on his account that the subscription fee for Twitter's paid service "Blue" should be lowered from the current $2.99 (about 3,670 KRW) to around $2, and suggested adding the cryptocurrency Dogecoin as a payment method.

Some speculate that Musk may increase his Twitter shareholding further. According to Twitter's bylaws, board members?whether individual or institutional investors?are restricted from holding more than 14.9% of common stock for 90 days after resigning from the board. However, since Musk will not join the board, this regulation no longer applies to him.

Bloomberg reported, "Musk and Twitter management are expected to hold a town hall meeting for employees this week," but noted that the meeting's occurrence remains uncertain.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.