Oops. Looks like Elon Musk isn’t joining Twitter board after all

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Oops. Looks like Elon Musk isn’t joining Twitter Inc.’s board after all. Less than a week after Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal excitedly tweeted that the world’s richest man would get a seat, he’s now been forced to backpedal after saying Musk declined the offer. 

Musk was supposed to take up his post on Saturday, Agrawal wrote in a memo subsequently posted on Twitter, but instead “Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best.” Musk later tweeted a single “hand on mouth” emoji, as if to imply a cheeky “Haha, I misspoke,” before deleting the tweet.

It says a lot about the relationship between Musk, Agrawal and the board — and the overall dysfunction therein — that we can go from him being a mere Twitter user, to largest shareholder, to board member, to non-board member in barely a week. But this also shows us that people make mistakes and can change their mind. Many Twitter users would love that same luxury — in the form of an edit button.

But all is not lost. The mere thought that Twitter’s most high-profile user would help run the company, and improve the product, got everyone talking. News just a day before that he’d amassed a 9.2% stake to become its largest shareholder drove the stock up 27%. Sure, there were numerous reasons for concern, including buying up shares while also having discussions about active involvement. With a board seat off the table, investors will be left speculating — and eagerly watching @elonmusk — for hints as to whether he’ll hold onto that stake, raise it or cut it.

Also befuddling was the joy expressed by Agrawal and founder Jack Dorsey that Musk was joining the board after he’d bought a stake — when in fact they could have