Elon Musk on Twitter board now; promises even more drama now

tech.hindustantimes.com:

In Silicon Valley, where board seats at public companies rarely trade hands, Twitter Inc. is the unruly exception. The social network has rotated through waves of directors in recent years as it dealt with slowing growth, executive turnover, contentious activist investors and unending political strife.

Now the board has Elon Musk. 

Over the last few months, the world’s wealthiest person went from being one of the loudest voices on Twitter to the company’s largest shareholder and board member. That transition has left employees and analysts guessing about Musk’s plans for the $37 billion company. It also puts a spotlight on Twitter’s mostly quiet board, which will now have to contend with the mercurial celebrity businessman. 

“He’s launched rockets into space. And helped solve the world’s energy crisis,” said Matt Navarra, social media consultant and industry analyst. “He’s about to discover tackling content moderation on social media platforms is harder than both those things.” 

Musk will be an unusual addition to the Twitter board. He isn’t an expert in advertising, which is how Twitter makes money, and he has a habit of tangling with regulators, who are a constant concern for any large social media platform. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s former chief executive, is set to depart the board later this year when his term expires. Unlike Dorsey and Musk, the remaining 10 board members keep relatively low profiles. They don’t tweet nearly as often, and one hasn’t tweeted at all.

Shares of Twitter have jumped more than 17% since Musk disclosed his holdings, a sign that investors believe that he will have both the inclination and the influence to help the company hit its ambitious growth targets. Last year, under pressure from activist