Headline Roundup • April 11th, 2022
Elon Musk Declines Offer to Join Twitter Board
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk turned down Twitter’s invitation to join its board of directors on Apr. 9, the same day he was scheduled to join.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said Sunday that Musk’s decision was “for the best,” but that there would be “distractions ahead.” Agrawal had previously said “weeks” of conversations led him to believe Musk was “exactly what we need on Twitter, and in the boardroom.”
The news prompted a flurry of speculation about the reasoning behind Musk’s decision. Some pointed to an apparently haphazard series of tweets, including “69.420% of statistics are false,” in which Musk suggested changes to the platform. Others suggested Musk may have wanted to avoid a mandatory background check. Some even wondered whether Musk was planning a hostile takeover, since his decision allows him to purchase more shares of the company.
Coverage was widespread and mostly balanced across the spectrum on Monday. Coverage in left-rated outlets was more likely to frame Musk’s weekend tweets as “erratic,” and coverage in right-rated outlets generally framed Twitter in a less positive light.
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Patrick Pleul | AFP | Getty Images
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has abandoned his plans to join the board of Twitter, his social network of choice.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced publicly Sunday that Musk remains the largest shareholder of Twitter, and the company will remain open to his input.
Musk informed Twitter on Saturday morning that he would not, in fact, take the board seat.
In premarket trading Monday, Twitter’s stock briefly tumbled more than 8% to less than $43 a share. Shares were up more than 2.5% after markets opened but fell nearly 1% to $45.82 a share just...

Suzanne Cordeiro/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and the biggest shareholder of Twitter, will no longer join the social media service’s board of directors, the company said late Sunday.
The move capped a whirlwind week at Twitter that had been set off by Mr. Musk, 50. On Tuesday, Twitter announced that the billionaire would be appointed to its 11-person board for a term that expires in 2024. The invitation to join the board followed Mr. Musk’s accumulating a 9.2 percent stake in the company, making him its largest shareholder.

Patrick Pleul/AP
In a major reversal, business tycoon Elon Musk has decided not to join the board of directors of Twitter, the company's CEO announced Sunday night.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal posted a note on the social media platform explaining what he says was Musk's decision to decline the board invite. Musk, 50, had recently purchased a 9.2% stake in the company. Since the April 4 stock purchase, in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO became the largest Twitter shareholder, Musk had promised "significant improvements" to the company and expressed excitement at joining the board.