Elon Musk has backed down. After buy 9.2% of Twitter, the businessman was invited to join the company’s board of directors. Musk I agreeand even appeared in the government organization chart from the Twitter website. But Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced today that Elon decided not to get on the company’s board after all. Why?
To find out how we got here, we have to review everything that has happened since Elon Musk started buying Twitter shares:
- Elon Musk began buying shares of Twitter on January 31, 2022 at a price of between $32 and $40 per share. Days before, he was tweeting against the restrictions due to covid and vaccines, in favor of the protests of Canadian truckers. Republican Dinesh D’Souza He suggested to buy a social network or a television channel to change the political landscape. Musk replied: “interesting ideas”.
- As of April 1, Musk had bought 73.5 million shares, the equivalent of 9.18% of the company.
- On March 25, before it was known that he had a huge share of Twitter, Elon Musk asked his followers if they believed that Twitter complied with the “basic principle of freedom of expression.” 70% voted no. Musk said the survey would have “consequences.”
- On April 4, Musk revealed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that he had become the largest shareholder in Twitter. He used a 13G form, reserved for passive investors, but the next day he submitted a 13D form as an active investor to avoid problems. Twitter stock had shot up to $51.
- On April 5, Parag Agrawal ad that Twitter’s board of directors had agreed to give a seat to Elon Musk, who accepted the offer. The appointment would become effective on April 9. As a member of the board of directors, Elon Musk could no longer buy more than 14.9% of Twitter.
- Elon Musk begins to propose changes on Twitter, usually through surveys of his followers. First, a button to edit tweets (but Twitter came out to clarify that I was already working on one since before Musk proposed it). Next, verify all paying Twitter Blue subscribers to reduce the problem of bot scams (scammers posing as Twitter promising a crypto donation). He also proposed to stop serving ads to those users, who already pay $3 a month, to limit the power of large corporations over the social network, and to close Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco to turn it into a homeless shelter. These tweets have been deleted.
- On April 9, Elon Musk tweeted that the most popular Twitter accounts are not posting as often anymore, asking, “Is Twitter dying?” He also suggested that the social network’s numbers are inflated with bots.
- Concerned about the scenario, Twitter employees pressured the company’s CEO so that Elon Musk did not interfere. Agrawal announced a question and answer session with the businessman, but has been canceled after Musk decided not to enter the board of directors.
- Parag Agrawal publishes a release announcing that Musk declined at the last minute to join the board. The statement clarifies that it would have been exciting to have Musk on the board of directors, since its members have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company.
- On the same day, Elon Musk “likes” a tweet which reads: “Elon became the biggest free speech supporter. Elon was told for him to behave himself and for him not to speak freely.”
These last two points, added to internal pressure from Twitter, give the key to why Elon Musk has decided to leave the company’s board of directors. Or rather, not to enter the meeting at the last minute.
The fiduciary duty would have entailed a legal obligation to always act in favor of the company. Tweets like “Is Twitter dying?” or “should Twitter close its headquarters and turn it into a homeless shelter?” They are not exactly along that line. Now Musk is free to continue tweeting whatever he wants.
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Además, podrá seguir comprando acciones más allá de ese 14,9% de límite que tienen los miembros de la junta. Pero si ya posee una gran influencia sobre la compañía como principal accionista (se dice que Elliot Management, que tiene una participación de poco más del 1%, aceleró la salida de Jack Dorsey de Twitter) ¿por qué iba Musk a seguir quemando dinero?
A no ser que sus planes sean una adquisición agresiva para tener el control total de la compañía, lo que parece una locura teniendo en cuenta lo lentamente que crece Twitter en usuarios, no está claro que Musk vaya a seguir comprando acciones como hasta ahora.
En cuanto al argumento de la libertad de expresión, no está claro que Twitter “censure” mucho más (en el sentido de moderar contenido) que otras redes sociales. Una red sin moderación tendría muchos problemas, empezando por el spam y el acoso a otros usuarios. Pero nunca quedó claro a qué se refería Musk con la censura, más allá del bloqueo de los medios rusos a petición de los gobiernos.
Tampoco es Musk el adalid de la libertad de expresión que dice ser. Fired an employee for posting a video of Tesla’s self-driving system failing, and is very sensitive to negative coverage about his companies. He has no qualms about attacking journalists or investors, always followed by his horde of fans.
Be that as it may, Elon Musk will not enter the board of directors of Twitter. “Distractions are coming”, wrote Parag Agrawal, after assuring that he will continue to listen to the advice of its largest shareholder.