Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk attends the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China August 29, 2019.
Aly Song | Reuters
Elon Musk said Monday that Twitter’s board of directors won’t be compensated for serving if he acquires the company.
“Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there,” Musk said in a tweet.
It’s not clear who would be appointed to serve the board of a Musk-owned Twitter. Currently, Twitter spends about $2.9 million in cash and stock awards to board members, according to a filing with the SEC. Executives do not receive additional compensation for their seats, so that does not include payments for CEO Parag Agrawal and former chief Jack Dorsey.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has been on a tear to acquire Twitter. After building up more than 9% in stock, Musk offered to buy Twitter in a deal valued at about $43 billion. In response, Twitter adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, often referred to as a “poison pill,” in an effort to fend off a potential hostile takeover. Musk may also be considering a potential tender offer to Twitter shareholders to take control of the company.
The outspoken executive has argued Twitter needs to be “transformed” into a private company so it can become a forum for free speech. He’s also said that Twitter’s board members’ interests “are simply not aligned with shareholders” and that the board “owns almost no shares” of the company.
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