Several users commenting on the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer’s tweet recommended he look into buying Twitter instead. Soon they would find out he was already acquiring shares.
April 4: Musk’s stake becomes public, and he’s invited to join Twitter’s board
Musk’s filing listed him as a passive investor, and yet, shortly after it became public, he started tweeting out business propositions for the social media company. Musk posted another poll on Twitter asking users to vote on whether they wanted the company to add an edit button that would allow people to change tweets after they’ve been published. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal urged users to “vote carefully” on the poll. “The consequences of this poll will be important.”
By the end of the day, Twitter invited Musk to join the board. Musk signaled that he would sign an agreement stipulating that he could not own more than 14.9% of the company’s stock.
April 5: Musk becomes an active investor
In the morning, several of Twitter’s board members took to the platform to congratulate Musk on his decision to join their ranks. Agrawal tweeted that the company and Musk had been chatting for weeks. Agrawal’s tweet led people to question why someone engaged in discussions to become a director would file as a passive investor.
Later that day, Musk refiled the disclosure of his stake to classify himself as an active investor, making the change only after indicating that he would accept a seat on the social media company’s board.
April 9: Musk rejects the board seat
The day that Musk was set to officially join Twitter’s board, Musk informed the company that he would be rejecting its offer. But, Twitter sat on the news for roughly 36 hours while waiting to see whether Musk would change his mind. Twitter’s investor relations website listed Musk as a board member throughout the weekend.
During that time, while the public still thought Musk was set to join Twitter’s board, Musk tweeted several veiled criticisms and suggestions for the company. Musk asked his followers, “Is Twitter dying?”