Elon Musk joining Twitter's board of directors
Hours after becoming Twitter's largest shareholder, the company appoints entrepreneur Elon Musk to its board of directors, with the latter starting to introduce changes already.
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Elon Musk (Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A day after it was revealed Elon Musk had become Twitter’s biggest shareholder, the latter is appointing him to the company’s board of directors, CEO Parag Agrawal said on Tuesday.
"He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon! 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," Agrawal wrote on social media.
He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 5, 2022
A regulatory filing published Monday by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Elon Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter.
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
Musk recently hinted on Twitter that he might launch his own social media platform. It all began with a poll on March 25 on whether or not they believed Twitter rigorously applied to free speech principles, adding that the consequences of the poll will be important and asking them to "vote carefully".
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
More than two million people answered the poll, with slightly more than 70% replying that Twitter did not "rigorously" adhere to free speech.
Musk followed this Tweet after the poll ended with a thread, asking what should be done, then adding "Is a new platform needed?".
After the publication, Twitter's shares jumped by 28% in pre-market trading sessions on Monday.
Do you want an edit button?
A few hours after buying a multibillion-dollar stake in Twitter, Musk teased the world on Monday with the possibility of an edit button.
The platform does not allow users to make any updates on their tweets.
Musk tweeted out a yes-or-no poll for the edit button while misspelling the choices as "yse" and "on", in a reference to the inability of users to edit the typos once tweets are sent. By Monday evening, the "yse" was winning more than 75% of the vote.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
