Elon Musk Is Offered To Join Twitter's Board Of Directors, But Has No Rights To Account Recover And Tweet Moderation

Elon Musk has been offered a seat on the Twitter Board of Directors. (photo: screenshot)

JAKARTA - Twitter Inc said on Tuesday, April 5, that they would offer Tesla boss and entrepreneur Elon Musk to sit on its board of directors. This is a position planned by the world's richest man to bring about significant improvements to the social media site.

The move comes after Musk disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday, April 4, that he had amassed a 9.2% stake in Twitter, making it its largest shareholder.

Despite the promise of major changes, the Tesla Inc CEO, who has often opted for unconventional paths, provided few details. Even so, Musk will be involved in strategic decisions, including the direction of the Bluesky project from Twitter and the addition of an edit button.

According to sources on Twitter, Musk will not have a say in moderation on the Twitter platform, what speeches are banned or whose accounts can be reinstated. This is a policy that applies to all board members.

Twitter shares were up more than 4% in midday trading, after closing up more than 27% last Monday.

Musk's appointment, however, would potentially block a possible takeover bid as the billionaire cannot own more than 14.9% of Twitter's shares either as an individual shareholder or as a group member, as long as he is on the company's board.

Monday's disclosure of his shares sparked widespread speculation that ranged from a full takeover of the Twitter platform to speculation he took an active position at the microblogging company.

According to sources on Twitter, Musk has not actually shown any interest in acquiring the company.

Twitter CEO is Excited

After Musk announced his attempt to buy shares in the company, Twitter executives immediately tweeted congratulatory messages following the announcement. There is hope that its presence can revive a platform that has struggled to attract users and possibly attract interest from retail investors.

"I'm happy to share that we appointed @elonmusk to our board," Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet. "He is very trusting and critical of the services we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long term."

In response, Musk also tweeted: "Looking forward to working with the Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in the coming months."

Musk contacted Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and CEO Agrawal shortly after he built his stock on March 14. He told them he wanted to join the council, according to sources familiar with the situation.

I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.

— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 5, 2022

They are eager to bring it in, even believing Musk can bring buzz to the platform as well as great ideas going forward.

Bluesky is a company funded by Twitter to develop new operating standards for social media. The company is working to build an open protocol that allows different social media companies to operate together.

Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, has criticized the social media platform and its policies. He even recently ran a Twitter poll asking users if they believed the platform adhered to free speech principles.

After disclosing his stake last Monday, Musk took out another poll on Twitter asking users if they wanted an edit button, a long-awaited feature on which the social media platform has worked.

"News that she's taking a board position will lead to expectations that she wants, and will have, greater involvement in decision-making on social networks," said Susannah Streeter, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"This could lead to some jitters about Mr Musk getting too much leverage about the way Twitter is run, with a view to strengthening his own personal brand and that of his company," Streeter said.

Musk, himself is a prolific Twitter user. He has even made a number of announcements to his more than 80 million followers on social media platforms.

"His board term ends at Twitter's 2024 annual shareholder meeting," the company said.

Musk himself is a super busy person with various important positions in several super large companies. The world's richest man is also a board member of Endeavor Group Holdings Inc, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, until June 30. In 2018 he left the board of the technology nonprofit organization OpenAI, which he founded.

His new role as a board member at Twitter could be a further distraction from the work at Tesla. Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX, and leads brain chip startup Neuralink and tunneling venture the Boring Company.