What are Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter?
Written by Shresta Dutt on April 6, 2022
Elon Musk didn’t actually tweet about his new stake in Twitter, which for an avid tweeter seemed somewhat ironic.
Maybe it was because the 9.2% he now owns is described as a passive stake, although those who know Musk do not expect it to stay that way for long.
His first move was to launch a poll – asking whether people want an edit button, something long called for and perhaps something he personally needs.
The new announcement that he will join Twitter’s board comes as no surprise.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal said “through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board”.
Later Musk replied saying he was looking forward to making changes at the social network giant.
Musk’s 9.2% stake in the social media company may sound small, but Dan Ives, from analyst firm Wedbush, describes it as “eye-popping” – equating to 73.5 million shares in the social network.
Shares in the platform soared following Monday’s revelation that the Tesla founder had become the largest shareholder in the company – meaning that stake has already grown in value and is now worth more than $3bn.
Musk’s shareholding is four times greater than that of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped down as chief executive in November.
Mr Ives believes the South African entrepreneur now has his eyes “laser set” on Twitter, and his significant holding will see him push for an active role in the management of the company.
“We would expect this passive stake as just the start of broader conversations with the Twitter board/management that could ultimately lead to an active stake and a potential more aggressive ownership role of Twitter,” he said.
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