Elon Musk Refutes That He’s Offloading Twitter Shares After Gaining A Seat On The Board

Unlike most CEOs of a Fortune 500 company, Tesla CEO Elon Musk prefers to make important announcements on Twitter. Currently, Musk’s Twitter following has grown to over 80 million. This number makes Musk’s following by far the largest of any CEO of any company in the world.

Even more impressively, Musk’s Twitter following rivals that of worldwide famous personalities, heads of States, A-list actors, and top of their league sports players. Musk currently even has significantly more followers than some big names like Oprah and Kim Kardashian.

And as Musk’s presence on Twitter has grown, the Tesla CEO has begun to question the platform's adherence to free speech principles.

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On March 25, Musk posted a Twitter poll asking people to weigh in on the site’s approach to free speech. Musk wrote “given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?” Is a new platform needed?”

Is a new platform needed?— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022

Musk followed up the poll with a tweet stating “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” This started rumors the Tesla CEO was planning to build his own social media platform.

The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022

However, a few days later, Twitter in a regulatory filing announced that Musk had purchased 73.4 million common shares of the social media platform. Musk’s Twitter stake made him the single largest shareholder of the social media platform with a 9.2 percent stake in the company.

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This is 4 times the amount of shares owned by Twitter founder and long-time CEO Jack Dorsey, who in comparison has a measly 2.25% stake in the social media platform. Following this announcement, Musk was granted a seat on Twitter’s board with the agreement that he will not, alone or as a group, purchase more than a 14.9% stake in the company.

Musk’s addition to Twitter’s board was celebrated by free speech advocates and stock market investors alike, with the social media’s shares going up more than 25% following the announcement.

However, today a new regulatory filing by Twitter revealed Musk’s stake in the company had gone down by 371,900 to 72.9 million shares. This began rumors the Tesla CEO has started offloading his recently acquired shares after gaining a seat on the board.

But, before the rumors could get any traction, Musk went on his favorite social media platform and revealed that he did not sell any of his Twitter shares and the reason his stake in the company decreased was that the “initial share number filed was incorrect.”

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This is a relief to anyone who celebrated Musk’s involvement in the social media giant. And also serves to show how the Tesla CEO uses Twitter to share vital information in a timely manner.

Since it has only been a couple of days since Musk joined Twitter’s board, as of now it is hard to say how his influence will shape the social media platform. However, we will be sure to keep you posted as we get more information. Until then make sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla regularly for the latest updates.

So what do you think? Relieved Musk has not started offloading his Twitter shares? Also, how do you think Musk’s involvement will shape the social media platform? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Screenshot from WSJ CEO Summit

For more information check out: Tesla Growth Dominating Europe Also, see Elon Musk Reveals Tesla’s Supercharger Profit As The EV Maker Prepares To Open The Network

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.