Elon Musk took a swipe at the board of Twitter on Monday after the social media company adopted a “poison pill” to protect itself from the second-biggest shareholder’s US$43 billion cash buyout offer.
“Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there,” Musk tweeted in response to a user’s post criticizing the board.
Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who has been critical of Twitter’s policies, did not elaborate on the tweet. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Continuing his tirade against the company, Musk had launched a poll on Thursday asking his 80 million followers if “taking Twitter private at US$54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board,” to which a large majority responded “Yes.”
Later, the Tesla chief executive also tweeted “Love Me Tender,” an Elvis Presley song, after Twitter opted a plan to sell shares at a discount to prevent any attempt by shareholders to amass a stake of more than 15 per cent. Musk currently has a 9.1 per cent stake.
Meanwhile, in a series of tweet replies, co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey called out Twitter’s board on Saturday, saying “it’s consistently been the dysfunction of the company.”
Dorsey’s statement was a reply to a tweet by venture capitalist Garry Tan that said: “The wrong partner on your board can literally make a billion dollars in value evaporate.”
Shares of Twitter were up about four per cent at US$46.85, still significantly below Musk’s offer of US$54.20 per share. They have risen roughly 15 per cent since Musk disclosed his stake on April 4.
Meanwhile, Twitter has also been informed by Thoma Bravo, a technology-focused private equity firm that had more than $103 billion in assets under management as of the end of December, that it was exploring the possibility of putting together a bid.
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma, Chavi Mehta and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Arun Koyyur)