Twitter (TWTR) went into high gear after Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk decided not to join the social media site's board of directors.
Musk, who unveiled a 9.1% stake in the micro-blogging website on April 4, was due to assume his seat on the board Saturday and had spoken publicly of his desire to bring "significant improvements" to the company.
'Get Out the Popcorn Time'
CEO Parag Agrawal said that Musk has "declined to join our board" following what he called "many discussions", but declined to elaborate in terms of how the decision was taken.
"We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all of our shareholders, was the best path forward," Agrawal said. "Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input."
He called for tuning out the noise, but things got rather loud on Twitter following the announcement.
Wedbush Dan Ives analyst tweeted that he believed "the Twitter Board and Musk could not come to an agreement around Musk's communications with the public."
"This now goes from a Cinderella story with Musk joining the Twitter Board and keeping his stake under 14.9% to likely a "Game of Thrones" battle in the months ahead," Ives said.
Ives said on CNBC's Squawk Box that "now is get out the popcorn time for shareholders."
In response, one person posted a clip of "Late Show" wearing 3-D glasses and eating popcorn. A subtitle reads "This is getting good."
"They’re trying to figure out does he go more active?" Ives said. "Does he start to partner with private equity? Does he try to change the slate? Clearly over the weekend that was sort of the fork in the road."
'Is Twitter Dying?'
Scott Galloway, author and marketing professor at New York University, tweeted "Gut feeling: @sec played a role here."
Musk, who has 81.3 million followers on Twitter, has not held back his displeasure with the microblogging website, going to so far as to ask "Is Twitter dying?"
Musk has butted heads with the Securities and Exchange Commission on numerous occasions and even his acquisition of the Twitter shares included some controversy.
Anyone who acquires more than 5% of a company's common shares must disclose their holdings within 10 calendar days, which Musk did not do.
"Elon Musk has declined Twitter's offer for a seat on the Board," one person tweeted. "My prediction: he'll pick up a bigger slice of Twitter over time. (They were capping his shareholding at 14.9% as part of the deal). And he'll be just as powerful off the Board - even with his current ~9%."
One person posted a video clip of William Shatner as Captain Kirk in "Star Trek" holding up his hands with a look of shock on his face.
Several Republicans have called for Musk to reinstate former President Donald Trump's Twitter account.
Trump was suspended from Twitter other social media platforms following the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
"Elon Musk couldn’t pass the background check, oops I mean he decided not to join the twitter board of directors," another person said. "There goes the MAGAts’ dream that he will he a fighter for their unbridled hate speech and lies, oops I mean what they call “free speech” on twitter."
'Bullish for Free Speech'
Journalist Jordan Schachtel said that "Elon Musk not taking a board seat is bullish for free speech coming back to Twitter."
"The board seat was a proposed tactic by Twitter's current execs & board to curb his influence (limiting his maximum shares to 14.9%)," he said. "Musk can now pursue a hostile takeover if he so chooses."
"Elon Musk bought a seat on the Twitter board, Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, Bill Gates has given over $300 million to media outlets," one commenter said. "Actual free speech and democracy are not compatible with this level of wealth."
Another poster said "Elon Musk isn't going to help anyone because he's decided not to join Twitter's board and the CEO feels that's for the best."
"Elon is a cool and interesting dude, but people need to learn he's also a spaz who's prone to impulsivity," the commenter said.
Musk, who celebrated the inauguration of his Texas facility last week, tweeted a poll Sunday that asked: “Convert Twitter SF HQ to homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway?”
The tweet, which was since deleted, promoted a response from former Amazon (AMZN) CEO and follow billionaire and big time rival Jeff Bezos, who said "Or do portion. Worked out great and makes it easy for employees who want to volunteer."
"Great idea," Musk responded.
