Elon Musk vows $0 salary for Twitter’s board after ‘poison pill’ adopted

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. Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=«https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1516056299376623626?ref_src=» https: globalnews.ca>April 18, 2022 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.