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Elon Musk joins Twitter board: What this means for users and shareholders

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Tesla founder, Elon Musk, has been appointed into the board of microblogging company, Twitter, after acquiring the largest shares in the firm for $2.4 billion on March 14, 2022.

The Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon via his Twitter handle, “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.” Agrawal wrote to his over 430,000 followers.

“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!” Agrawal added.

What Musk appoint means for Twitter?

Musk’s stake in Twitter is 9.2 percent, above that of Jack Dorsey, owner of the social media platform and the former majority stakeholder, which is 2.25 percent.

This means the richest man in the world has a major control over Twitter operation, which Musk favours ahead of Facebook, another social media platform heavily criticised by the Tesla boss.

READ ALSO: Elon Musk’s networth hits $300.3bn after acquisition of majority stake in Twitter

In response to the announcement, Musk wrote on Twitter, “Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”

Musk will rock Twitter’s share value, shareholders investment: Musk influence extends beyond the boardroom. The businessman is known to hold a huge influence on social media and the stock market.

Tesla’s share has always been a victim and beneficiary of Musk’s tweets, leading to a shareholder of the firm suing Tesla over Musk’s tweet affecting the trade of the automobile stock in the capital market.

His impact on the bourse was felt after disclosure that Musk purchased shares in Twitter. The firm’s share value skyrocketed by 26% pre-market opening on Monday, and 29.75% at the end of trading during the same day, signalling a bullish sentiment for the tech stock.

As Twitter shareholders gain from Musk’s presence, they should prepare for a downward trend when he goes on a Twitter rant – same thing was experienced by bitcoin holders; after tweeting in favour of BTC, which drove the cryptoasset value up, his statement in May 2021 ushered in a long bearish period for bitcoin.

Will Musk change Twitter model: The significant improvements stated by Musk is not mere words, as the billionaire has been critical of the level of freedom Twitter users have – Ripples Nigeria had reported last week that he asked his 80.5 million followers if Twitter offers free speech to improve democracy or doesn’t adhere to its principles.

Recall Twitter had suspended President Muhammadu Buhari for a tweet the microblogging site considered harmful, and also banned former US President, Donald Trump, for a tweet labelled inciting to the public.

Aside from clamouring for more user freedom, Musk asked today if Twitter users want an edit button, a feature that has not been a part of Twitter since its establishment in 2006.

Over 3.13 million Twitter users have voted, and 73% said yes, while 27% want Twitter without an edit feature in 12 hours – and there’s still 11 hours before the vote ends.

This shows Musk presence in Twitter will not only usher in a new era for users of the microblogging site, but also for shareholders of the social media platform.

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