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Elon Musk will not join Twitter board despite becoming company’s biggest shareholder

Twitter

Elon Musk decides not to join Twitter's board

Elon Musk, Twitter's largest shareholder, has opted not to join the company's board of directors.

Musk took shares in the social media giant last week and describes himself as a free-speech absolutist.

The Tesla billionaire, recently named the world's richest person, has been critical of Twitter.

But his 9.1 percent ownership in the social media network was disclosed on April 4, and stated that he intends to make major improvements to it.

READ MORE: ELON MUSK BECOMES TWITTER’S LARGEST SHAREHOLDER

His nomination to the board was set to take effect on Saturday, April 9, and would prevent him from beneficially owning more than 14.9 percent of the company's common shares.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said: “Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board."

He said: "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.”

Some Twitter employees were concerned that Musk's appointment to the board of directors might jeopardize the social media company's capacity to filter content.

Prior to investing, Musk conducted a Twitter survey in which he asked people whether they felt Twitter adhered to the idea of free expression.

He conducted another poll, asking users if they want an edit button, a long-awaited feature on which the social media site has been developing.

In addition, he polled users on whether Twitter's headquarters should be transformed into a homeless refuge, a notion advocated by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

On Saturday, he proposed improvements to Twitter Blue's premium membership service, including lowering the price, prohibiting advertising, and allowing users to pay in the cryptocurrency dogecoin.

Twitter shares, which surged 27 percent on April 4 after Musk revealed his position, have fallen 7.5 percent to Friday's closing.

Source: Reuters

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