April 11 (Reuters)-Elon Musk rejects Twitter (TWTR.N) He offered to join the board, despite proposing ideas with a barrage of tweets from removing ads to dropping the letter “w” in the name of a social media company.

Neither Twitter chief Parag Agrawal nor Mask revealed the reason for the refusal. (TSLA.O) My boss later deleted those tweets. This included plans such as an authentication checkmark for Twitter subscribers who pay $ 3 a month.

The board had a lot of discussions with Musk, Agrawal said in a memo posted on the site on Sunday, warning of “distractions ahead.”

Twitter’s latest twist on the saga has sparked chatter in everything from potential acquisitions to masks trying to escape the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s oversight.

Musk was expected to join the board on April 9, after disclosing 9.1% ownership of Twitter shares, but his role would have limited his shares to 14.9%.

A source told Reuters that Musk had asked Twitter for a board seat before the company was invited.

Due to the rejection, Musk, now the company’s largest shareholder, is free to go beyond that limit and increase its stake.

“I think this is the best,” Agrawal said in a memo referring to Musk’s rejection. “It can be distracting in the future, but our goals and priorities remain the same.” (((https://bit.ly/3usFqhe).

Musk, whose net worth is fixed at $ 274 billion by Forbes, responded with emoticons on Twitter, but was later removed.

AJ Bell analyst Danny Hughson said, “We have to assume that there was so much messing around on the weekends, and it feels like we’re pushing the boundaries to see how far he can go. “.

“He never wanted Twitter to be detained in a way that he clearly wanted to detain him as a member of the board.”

Musk, an absolutist of free speech and a critical of Twitter, said he plans to disclose shares on April 4 and bring significant improvements to the social media platform. read more

Musk’s latest decision opens up the possibility for him to occupy a larger position and potentially make a full bid, CFRA Research analyst Angelo Gino wrote in a client note.

“I thought the equity caps and boardsheets were originally intended to handcuff musk in many ways.

Twitter’s share price was slightly higher at $ 46.40 in the volatile trading on Monday. On April 4, when Musk disclosed his stock, they rose more than 27%, but have lost about 7.5% by the end of Friday since then.

In the news that Musk was appointed to the board, some Twitter employees panicked about the future of the ability of social media companies to moderate content, corporate sources told Reuters. read more

Before making a bet, Musk conducted a poll on Twitter and asked users if they believed that Twitter adhered to the principle of free speech.

Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald said, “I think he noticed that attending the board reduced his voice, which is absolutely the last thing he wants. “.

Reported by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan, Nivedita Balu and Juby Babu in Bangalore. Edited by Arun Koyyur, Miyoung Kim, Edmund Klamann, Anil D’Silva

Our criteria: Thomson Reuters trusts the principles.