Elon Musk, Twitter’s largest shareholder, will not join the board afterall

Elon Musk, Twitter’s biggest shareholder, has decided not to join the social media company’s board, Chief Executive, Parag Agrawal, says.

In a tweet shared late Sunday night, Agrawal said the 50-year-old entrepreneur declined the offer on the same day he was due to join the company’s board of directors.

”We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment was to become officially effective 4/9 but Elon shared that same morning he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best.”

The announcement comes barely 48 hours after Musk made comments on changing how the Twitter Blue premium subscription service works, including slashing its price, converting the company’s San Francisco headquarters to a shelter for the homeless, banning advertising and giving an option to pay in the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

He also questioned the activity of top Twitter accounts, as he attempts to chart the future of the social media company.

“Most of these “top” accounts tweet rarely and post very little content, ” He tweeted on Saturday. ”Is Twitter dying?”

Despite Musk’s decision, he seems keen on changing the way Twitter operates, its stance on freedom of speech and making the platform more liberal.

Agrawal said Twitter offered Musk a seat on its board as the company had believed it was “the best path forward”, with board members having to “act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders”.

Addressing Musk’s decision, Mr Agrawal 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,” he added. “Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”

Musk currently holds a 9.2% stake in Twitter. His name is still on the company’s board of directors.

Shares in Twitter soared by more than 27% last Monday after Musk’s stake was revealed.

However, many Twitter employees have complained that the Tesla chief executive had become the largest shareholder in the company and was subsequently invited to join the board.

According to company insiders, reports BBC, there was anxiety over what impact he would have on the social media company’s ability to moderate content in the future.

Meanwhile, the social media company’s stock briefly tumbled more than 8% to less than $43 a share at 4 a.m. ET before recovering slightly. The stock was down about 1% at 10:53 a.m. ET after briefly turning positive.