On Tuesday, Twitter announced that Mr. Musk, 50, would be appointed to its 11-person board in a term that expires in 2024. That followed the revelation on Monday that Mr. Musk had accumulated a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, making him its biggest shareholder.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal called Elon Musk “a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need” at the company.
“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,” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet.
Musk, either alone or as a member of a group, won’t be allowed to own more than 14.9% of Twitter’s outstanding stock for as long as he’s a board member and for 90 days after. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet that the company had been talking to Musk in recent weeks and “it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.”
Putting Musk on Twitter’s board and limiting the amount of stock he can acquire while as a director may be a strategic move on Twitter’s part, as Musk became its biggest shareholder and openly questioned the social media platform’s dedication to free speech and the First Amendment.
The billionaire is a frequent user of the platform, regularly mixing in inflammatory and controversial statements about current affairs or other public figures with remarks that range from whimsical to business-focused.
In March, Musk told his millions of followers on Twitter that he was giving serious thought to creating his own social media platform, and has clashed repeatedly with financial regulators about his use of Twitter.
Shares of Twitter rose more than 6% before the market opened.
