Musk's time on the board of directors has ended before it began. The platform's CEO announced on Sunday that he wouldn't be accepting a seat on the board. Just five days after the celebrity billionaire bought a 9.2% stake in the company, he was appointed to the board. Take a look at the announcement of the CEO. Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing with you all here. pic.twitter.com/lfrXACavvk — Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 11, 2022
According to Agrawal, Musk’s reign as a board director was supposed to begin on April 9, but on that very day, he declined the offer.
Image by: 60 Minutes Australia (Edited) 
After the news broke, Musk removed a shy hand-over-face emoji.
Neither he nor the CEO have given a reason for it. There are a number of possible explanations.
Musk would only be allowed to hold a maximum of 14.9% of the company while on the board.
If he were a passive stakeholder, he would be free to acquire a larger share than that and also take over the company.
As a fiduciary of the company, Musk would have to act in the best interest of the company and all of its stakeholders.
This would probably mean that he needs to limit his controversial posts about the company, such as this one, which was posted after he had already bought his stake.
Most of these “top” accounts tweet rarely and post very little content.
Is Twitter dying? https://t.co/lj9rRXfDHE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2022
He identified himself as a "free speech absolutist" and had criticized others on social media.
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
Furthermore, Agrawal mentioned a “background check” as part of the process in bringing Musk on board, and it’s likely that Musk didn’t pass with flying colors.
He was fined $40 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and forced to have a corporate lawyer review his post after he mused about taking the company private.
A number of employees at the company spoke to the news agency about Musk's appointment and the dangers of weaker policies that could encourage abusive or harmful content.
The board of directors may have had concerns about giving Musk too much power over how the platform operates, or about offering him the ability to change the company's strategies and policies.
The founder of a company has a history of firing staff who disagree with him, as well as demanding customers sign non-disclosure agreements.
We're not sad about Musk reversing course.
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