On Tuesday morning, Twitter announced the appointment of Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has been to the social media platform’s board.
“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,” wrote Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in a tweet.
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
Responding to Agrawal, Musk said he is “looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
According to Market Watch, Musk’s term on the board will expire in 2024.
Elon Musk has been named a board director of Twitter with a term that will expire in 2024, the company announced. $TWTR was up about 9% in premarket trading after shares surged 27.1% in Monday’s session. https://t.co/Qq36k6ixy7 pic.twitter.com/GWNo0Uto2V
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) April 5, 2022
The news came following the revelation that Musk has become one of the largest shareholders in Twitter after a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission showed that he now holds 9.2 percent of a stake in the company.
12 hours before the announcement of his board position was made, Musk was already users on the platform about the potential to add an edit button to Twitter, a feature that posts do not possess unlike other fellow social media platform Facebook.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
In recent weeks, it had been rumored that Musk would start his own alternative to Twitter, asking in a March 25 poll, “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
“The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,” he added.
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
The following day, Musk said he was giving “serious thought” to building a new social media platform, in a response to a tweet requesting one with an open source algorithm and having free speech as a top priority.
Would you consider building a new social media platform, @elonmusk? One that would consist an open source algorithm, one where free speech and adhering to free speech is given top priority, one where propaganda is very minimal. I think that kind of a platform is needed.
— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) March 26, 2022
Story cited here.
