What Elon Musk’s seat on Twitter’s board could mean for its users

Tesla CEO Elon Musk now has a 9% stake in Twitter and one its board of directors of directors, asking questions about how the billionaire business tycoon could reshape the social media platform. As Twitter’s largest shareholder, he has the ear of senior executives.

“Through the conversations with Elon over the last few weeks, it has become clear to us that he would add great value to our advice,” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said on Tuesday morning.

Does Musk have a history with Twitter?

In fact, it does. Musk’s 80.5 million followers on Twitter make him one of the most popular figures on the platform, rivaling pop stars such as Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga. But his prolific tweet sometimes gets him in trouble when, for example, he uses it to promote his business, rally Tesla loyalists, question pandemic measures, and pick fights with those he disagrees with.

In a famous example, Musk apologized to a British cave explorer who alleged that the CEO of Tesla had described him as a pedophile by referring to him as a “pedophile” in an angry tweet and later deleted. . The scout filed a defamation suit, though a Los Angeles jury then he cleaned up Musk.

It has also been closed to one long-running dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its activity on Twitter. Musk and Tesla in 2018 agreed to pay $ 40 million in civil fines and for Musk to approve his tweets by a corporate lawyer after tweeting about having the money to take Tesla privately at $ 420 per share, which did not happen, but it provoked Tesla’s actions. price to skip. His attorney has said the SEC is violating Musk’s free speech rights.

What does Musk plan to do on Twitter?

Musk has described himself as an “absolutist of free speech” and has made it clear that he does not believe that Twitter lives up to the principles of free speech, an opinion shared by Donald Trump supporters. and several right-wing political figures who have had their say. accounts suspended for violating Twitter content rules.

But what is really driving Musk’s participation on Twitter is unclear. His concerns about the service include arguing for the Twitter algorithm to be visible to the public, expanding the availability of “verified” Twitter accounts, and exploiting a profile photo initiative that includes non-consumable or NFT tabs.

Musk has also called them “cryptographic spam bots,” which search for cryptocurrency-related keyword tweets and then come up with customer support for users’ empty cryptocurrencies, the only annoying problem. Twitter “.

“We don’t know what their goals are,” said Jennifer Grygiel, a communications professor at Syracuse University and a social media expert. “Maybe Elon Musk wants to fly in secret (Twitter) … maybe he wants to destroy it.”

In a tweetMusk said he hoped to make “significant improvements to Twitter in the coming months!”

What can Musk really do as a board member?

Musk’s role as a board member and as Twitter’s largest shareholder certainly gives him a huge voice in the company’s future. The CEO and other board members have publicly praised him this week, a sign that Twitter’s leadership is likely to take his ideas seriously.

But he is still just a member of a 12-person board that Twitter says plays an “important role in advising and commenting,” but has no responsibility for day-to-day operations and decisions. That means Musk will have no authority to add an “edit button” or to restore Donald Trump’s suspended account.

“Our political decisions are not determined by the board or the shareholders, and we have no plans to reverse any political decision,” said Twitter spokesman Adrian Zamora.

However, Musk is expected to push Twitter on issues of free speech. Twitter is one of several social media platforms that try to strike a balance between free speech and censorship of content that is considered hateful, harmful, or fake.

“[W]We believe that one of the main drivers of this investment is the desire of Mr. Musk to remodel the platform and make it more open source with fewer intermediate controls, “Truist Securities analysts said in a research note.

What do shareholders think?

Several Wall Street analysts said they were encouraged by Musk’s new role on Twitter. “This is a guy who drives change, who I think refuses to have a resume on his resume. A perfect guy you need on the board for them,” said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino. That’s true, Zino said, though “what exactly are his ideas, who the hell knows.”

Other investors are not so sure. Meredith Benton, founder of investment firm Whistle Stop Capital, has been pushing for both Twitter and Tesla shareholders to support stronger policies that affect harassment and discrimination in the workplace. He describes Musk’s new role as a worrying development for Twitter investors, especially considering accusations from California regulators that Tesla has been discriminating against black employees at its factory in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Twitter’s biggest current challenge is to successfully navigate through the social implications of using its platform,” Benton said. “Elon Musk, with his air of reckless bravado, runs the risk of undermining the reflective and strategic management of these issues.”

Where is Twitter as a company?

There has been a rotation of executives since its co-founder The departure of Jack Dorsey in November he left Twitter with Agrawal at the helm, as his initial actions have led to the reorganization of divisions. Wall Street analysts had approved the election of Agrawal as the new leader, but there have been no major changes to the platform yet. The company has lagged behind its social media rivals and has far fewer users.

Just linking Musk’s high profile name to Twitter could make people spend more time on the platform and help them make more money, said Zino, who called Musk “the most important individual. “from Twitter.

Musk is a busy guy

You may not know it from his prolific publications, but he holds several important roles, including CEO and “Technoking” of the electric car company Tesla and CEO of the rocket company SpaceX. He is also the founder of The Boring Company, an underground tunnel company; and Neuralink, which vol plant computer chips in people’s brains.

Critics have expressed concern about medical research conducted at the University of California, Davis, on live monkeys involving Neuralink, which Musk co-founded, CBS San Francisco reported.

Opponents of the investigation say primates are subjected to abusive experiments that sometimes end in death. In February, a lawsuit was filed by a group of doctors against the university asking for documents to be released about the investigation, and a complaint has been filed with federal authorities.

However, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in an April 5 report that he believes “balancing your key roles in SpaceX and Tesla should NOT be a major issue or concern for investors right now.” crucial. ” Ives added: “Now is the time to pull out the popcorn and see the evolution of the coming months with Musk on the board.”