Analysts are already speculating whether the Tesla CEO may agitate for more control over Twitter now that he’s a major shareholder and director.
Twitter said on Tuesday that Elon Musk is joining its board. A day earlier, Tesla ‘s CEO and the world’s richest person disclosed that he’s the social media company’s biggest shareholder. Beyond becoming the latest Silicon Valley drama, investors are trying to figure out what it all means. Twitter’s stock jumped 4% on Tuesday following the board announcement. On Monday, it had its best day since the company’s IPO in 2013, skyrocketing more than 27%. When it comes to Musk, markets are rarely rational. “It’s nice when a company reports profits — it seems much better if a company reports its association with Elon Musk,” said Howard Fischer, a partner at the law firm Moses & Singer in New York and a former lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission. “He may not improve operations, he may not improve revenue, he may not lower liabilities, but the stock market rewards [Twitter].” Whatever the financial impact may or not be, one thing is clear. Seemingly overnight, Musk has been granted greater sway over a company that he’s routinely criticized and a platform on which he has 80 million followers, including many dedicated members of the cult of Elon. Musk’s intent with Twitter is unclear, and that’s probably by design. He’s previously called out Twitter’s content moderation policies, claiming the company has failed to uphold free speech principles. He’s also pushed for Twitter to create an edit button (a common complaint in the Twittersphere) and to allow users to have greater control over the tweets they see in their news feed. “My suspicion is he will start relatively slowly but then he’ll want to make some serious changes, probably more in the direction of free speech,” said Youssef Squali, an analyst from Truist Securities who recommends buying Twitter shares. “I don’t think he ultimately cares about user growth, etcetera.” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and co-founder Jack Dorsey both welcomed Musk to the company’s board. “He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term,” Agrawal tweeted.
