Elon Musk’s planned takeover threatens Okonjo-Iweala, 10 others’ positions on Twitter board

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been caught in the faceoff between Twitter board and world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

Okonjo-Iweala was appointed into the Twitter board in July 2018, but her time at the microblogging platform might soon come to an end if Musk succeeded with his takeover plan.

The South Africa-born billionaires’ takeover of Twitter would strip Nigeria’s former finance minister of her position on the board.

The WTO chief is one of 11 board members and earns $9,583 for offering her expertise in the operations of the social media company, according to a document seen by Ripples Nigeria.

Musk plans to buy out the Twitter shareholders in a deal worth over $40 billion and has given the board an ultimatum to either take his offer or he would pull out his investment in the firm.

READ ALSO:‘Twitter has always been for sale,’ Dorsey reacts to Elon Musk’s takeover bid

If the deal is accepted, Okonjo-Iweala and the remaining 10 board members would be out of job at Twitter with Musk expected to pick his preferred directors.

The board members earn between $400,000 and $460,000 per annum for their part-time work at Twitter.

Musk had a tweet on Monday promised to stop the board payment, saying the move would save the company $3 million a year.

“Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s $3M/year saved right there,” he stated.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now