What you need to know
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now on the board at Twitter.
- Musk bought almost $3 billion in Twitter stock recently.
- The Tesla CEO has long been vocal about Twitter and what he believed were free speech issues on the social network.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has confirmed that the company has now added Tesla CEO Elon Musk to its board. The move comes days after he bought almost $3 billion worth of shares in the company.
The announcement came via Twitter — where else? — with Agrawal saying that Musk will "bring great value" to the company's board.
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!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, 2022April 5, 2022
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.
Musk recently spent $2.9 billion on Twitter stock in a move that was confirmed yesterday. At the time, analysts suggested that the buy was the precursor to bigger things. Sure enough, 24 hours later, Musk has been added to the Twitter board. The AP reported that Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities was already expecting something similar yesterday.
"We would expect this passive stake as just the start of broader conversations with the Twitter board/management that could ultimately lead to an active stake and a potential more aggressive ownership role of Twitter," Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a client note early Monday.
It's still too early to tell what this will mean for one of the world's most popular social networks, but given Musk's vocal complaints about the way Twitter handles free speech we can surely expect him to apply pressure — rightly, or wrongly.
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022March 25, 2022
To that end, Musk has already suggested that he intends to help make "improvements" to Twitter — although what they will be, we will have to wait and see.
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, 2022April 5, 2022
Hopefully, those improvements will relate to the company's iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. Far from the best Mac app for reading tweets, the official Twitter app could definitely use some work.
