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April 18 (UPI) — Elon Musk tweeted Monday that he would cut all pay to Twitter’s board of directors if he takes over the social media company.
“Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s $3M/year saved right there,” Musk tweeted.
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission says Twitter pays board members a total of about $2.9 million in stock and cash, CNBC reported.
Musk, the world’s richest man, offered $43 billion to take Twitter private on Thursday, after he rejected the offer of a board seat at the company.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, became Twitter’s largest investor April 4, when he disclosed he had acquired a 9 percent stake. Musk is a frequent critic of Twitter and says the company should be a “platform for free speech” worldwide.
Twitter’s board of directors blocked Musk’s takeover bid Friday with a unanimous “poison pill” vote. The poison pill strategy gives existing shareholders the chance to buy additional shares at a discount
In another tweet Saturday, Musk appeared to step up his fight, as he hinted at a potential tender offer to Twitter shareholders. Musk tweeted the Elvis song title “Love Me Tender.. Instead of going private, a tender offer is a public offering to purchase some or all of the shareholders’ stock.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey blasted the company’s board Sunday in response to some critical posts about Musk’s attempted takeover. Dorsey agreed with what one user called “plots and coups” among its founding executives, saying “it’s consistently been the dysfunction of the company.”
Dorsey also responded with the words “Big Facts” to a user who quoted venture capitalist Fred Destin’s words that “Good boards don’t create good companies, a bad board will kill a company every time.”
