The social network has rotated through waves of directors in recent years as it dealt with slowing growth, executive turnover, contentious activist investors and unending political strife.
Over the last few months, the world’s wealthiest person went from being one of the loudest voices on Twitter to the company’s largest shareholder and board member.
“He’s launched rockets into space.
He isn’t an expert in advertising, which is how Twitter makes money, and he has a habit of tangling with regulators, who are a constant concern for any large social media platform.
Shares of Twitter have jumped more than 17% since Musk disclosed his holdings, a sign that investors believe that he will have both the inclination and the influence to help the company hit its ambitious growth targets.
But some analysts doubt that the kind of publicity that follows Musk will be good for Twitter.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said, “We’ve been open about the need to diversify our board, and that commitment still stands today.” The company has added two female members in the last two years.
Dorsey appeared to have won a reprieve, but in 2021, he stepped down as CEO, handing the reins to Parag Agarwal, Twitter’s chief technologist.
31, when he quietly began acquiring Twitter shares, Musk criticized the company for “failing to adhere to free speech principles.” More recently, he promised that Twitter’s next board meeting “is gonna be lit.” He added an image showing him smoking marijuana on Joe Rogan’s podcast, an incident that prompted a Pentagon review.
Musk “could try to convince the company to take it a little easier on content moderation,” said Ali Mogharabi, senior equity analyst at Morningstar Investment Service, who predicted that the billionaire would push to reactivate Trump’s account.
Another Twitter staffer called those upset about Musk’s appointment a “loud minority.” Most people at Twitter learned that Musk would get a board seat only minutes before the move was announced publicly, according to multiple people at the company.
Boards frequently limit how much their members can speak about the company, and often “have codes of conduct and confidentially agreements,” said Karen Brenner, executive director of law and business initiatives at New York University’s business school.
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