Elon Musk promises change after joining Twitter board
Twitter has announced it is appointing Elon Musk to its board, a day after Tesla CEO and the world’s richest person disclosed that he is now the social media platform’s biggest shareholder with a 9.2% stake worth $2.9 billion.
Parag Agrawal, the Twitter chief executive, said that he was “excited” to announce that Musk was joining the company’s board of directors. “Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our board,” he said in a tweet. Agrawal said Musk was both a “passionate believer and intense critic” of the service and that was “exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long term”.
Twitter’s stock jumped 4% on Tuesday following the board announcement.
Musk has been an active Twitter user and has also criticized the company claiming the company has failed to uphold free speech principles.
Musk, who has more than 80 million followers on Twitter, said he was “looking forward to working” with the board “to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months”.
Last month, Musk openly mulled starting his own social media platform. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?” he said.
After disclosing his stake, Musk put out another poll on Twitter asking users if they want an edit button, a long-awaited feature. Musk will be involved in strategic decisions, including the direction of Twitter’s Bluesky project.
