Tesla CEO Elon Musk Turns Down Twitter Board

Social networking company Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) has revealed that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, the company’s largest shareholder, will not join its board of directors.

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Last week, Twitter disclosed that Musk had acquired a 9.2% stake in the company.

Shares of Twitter closed 3.75% lower on Friday.

Background

Following the disclosure of the acquisition, Musk was expected to join Twitter’s board of directors on April 9 after agreeing not to increase his stake to more than 14.9% before 2024. However, Chief Executive Parag Agrawal tweeted on Sunday night that Musk has decided not to join the Twitter board.

Agarwal commented, “We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment to the board was to become official effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.”

Agrawal said that although the Board was excited to welcome Musk, he believed his decision was “for the best,” adding, “Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”

Elon Musk’s Suggestions

Following the announcement of the acquisition, Elon Musk came up with a number of suggestions for the social media giant’s Blue premium subscription service. He suggested that the company should reduce the subscription fee, restrict advertising, and include the cryptocurrency dogecoin as an optional form of payment.

Twitter Blue, the company’s first subscription service, was launched in June 2021. It offers “exclusive access to premium features” on a monthly subscription basis, and is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Twitter has refrained from commenting on Musk’s suggestions.

Wall Street’s Take

Recently, Bank of America Securities analyst Justin Post reiterated a Buy rating and a price target of $54 (16.81% upside potential) on Twitter.

Overall, the stock has a Hold consensus rating based on eight Buys, 18 Holds, and two Sells. The average Twitter stock forecast of $45.58 implies that shares are fully priced at current levels, with 1.41% downside potential over the next 12 months. Shares have decreased 34.76% over the past year.

Website Traffic

TipRanks’ Website Traffic Tool, which uses data from SEMrush Holdings (NYSE: SEMR), offers insight into Twitter’s performance in the first quarter.

According to the tool, for the first quarter of 2022, total global visits to twitter.com are estimated to have increased by 48.97%.

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