Left-wing Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has posted an online rant about Twitter’s board of directors as outspoken billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, continues to attempt to buy out Twitter.
Jack Dorsey seemed to blame Twitter’s board of directors, accusing its members – which Dorsey himself is one – of pursuing “plots and coups” that were “consistently the dysfunction of the company”.
Political polar opposites, Dorsey and Musk both posted Tweets over the weekend seemingly in an indirect spat against Twitter’s board of directors, with Musk teasingly posting the lyrics to Elvis’ ‘Love Me Tender’ in relation to shareholders accepting his tender take-over bid.
Love Me Tender
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2022
The outspoken, pro-free speech Tesla CEO and richest man in the world made a $43 billion bid for Twitter last week.
If Musk can prove his ability to finance the bid long-term, his offer of $54.20 a share would be enough to by-pass Dorsey and the Twitter board, who Musk claimed would get “$0 if my bid succeeds”.
Apparently bitter at the board’s decision to take a chunk of his shares, Dorsey struck out at the management of the company he founded, which he said he now owns “very little” of:
“When I was fired in 2008 and made chair, the board took most of my shares away from me.
“I also gave 1 per cent of the company back to the employee pool in 2015. So, ended up with very little of company”.
In response to a comment about Twitter’s board, Dorsey said, “it’s consistently been the dysfunction of the company”, perhaps hinting that he hopes to reform it if Musk’s bid is successful.
“Good boards don’t create good companies, but a bad board will kill a company every time”, he continued.
When I was fired in 2008 and made chair, the board took most of my shares away from me. I also gave 1% of the company back to the employee pool in 2015. So, ended up with very little of company. https://t.co/ARyAn542k6
— jack
(@jack) April 16, 2022
In another Tweet, Dorsey seemed to love-bomb Musk:
“I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it.”
“Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team”, read the post, although it was written before Musk made the move to completely buy the company out. Dorsey will leave the Twitter board once his term expires in late May this year.
After a TED talk interview, Musk continued to Tweet his disdain for the board, posting:
“It would be utterly indefensible not to put this offer to a shareholder vote.”
“Economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.”
Later, in support of an article written about his take-over bid in Bloomberg, Musk doubled down on his criticism for Twitter chiefs:
“Board salary will be $0 in my bid succeeds. So that’s $3m a year saved right there.”
The desperate board announced its ‘poison pill’ scheme last Friday in attempt to thwart Musk’s potential ability to increase his stake in the company without the board’s approval.
It will do this by triggering a dilution of company shares through a flood of new shares so that other shareholders can buy new shares at a discounted price, thus raising the cost of a takeover.
“The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium,” said the board.
Musk said he was “not sure” his bid would succeed, but assured free-speech advocates there would be a “Plan B” in the pipeline.
This story syndicated with permission from For the Love of News