Twitter’s top shareholder Elon Musk decides not to join board of directors

Parag Agrawal, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, says Elon Musk has decided against joining the board of the micro-blogging platform.

Agrawal said after the company announced that the billionaire founder of Tesla would be coming on as a board member, he changed his mind.

He said Musk’s membership of the board was meant to take effect on Saturday, March 9.

“Elon Musk has decided not to join our board. Here’s what I can share about what happened,” he wrote in a note shared on his Twitter page.

“The board and I had many discussions about Elon joining the board, and with Elon directly.

“We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks. We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.

“We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared the same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.

“I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”

In the note, which Agrawal said was originally shared with the company, he warned staff that there will be “distractions ahead but our goals and priorities remain unchanged”.

“The decisions we make and how we execute are in our hands, no one else’s. Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building,” he added.