
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, will not be joining the board of directors of Twitter, as previously reported. The tumultuous billionaire is still the company’s biggest shareholder.
Following a weekend of Musk tweets signaling prospective changes to Twitter, including making the service ad-free, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted the news. Ad revenue accounted for about 90% of Twitter’s income in 2021.
“Elon’s appointment to the board was set to take effect on 4/9, however Elon announced that same morning that he would not be joining the board,” Agrawal said in a re-posted email to Twitter staff. “This, I suppose, is for the best.”
Agrawal didn’t give a reason for Musk’s alleged decision, but he did drop a huge hint. He added that the Twitter board “believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company, where he, like other board members, is required to act in the best interests of the company and all of our shareholders, was the best road ahead.”
Musk tweeted an emoji of a face with wide eyes and a hand over its mouth about 9:30 p.m. The sign is frequently used to convey humiliation or cheeky laughing, with a “Oops!” meaning. Musk didn’t explain what he meant by the tweet, and he didn’t elaborate.