On April 4, Elon Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder. 9.1% equity in the company. He will serve as a Class II director until the company’s 2024 annual meeting of shareholders, according to an SEC filing.
The appointment, which is not a top board position, also limits his shareholding to 14.9% or less of common stock during his tenure and for the next 90 days.
The question now is: What does Elon Musk’s influence mean for Twitter and the digital marketing landscape in general?
How has Musk’s investment and involvement in Twitter changed?
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO last year, welcomed Musk to the board and said he believes Musk and current CEO Parag Agrawal “will be an incredible team.”
I’m really excited to have Elon on the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it.
Both Parag and Elon lead with their hearts and they’ll be an incredible team. https://t.co/T4rWEJFAes
— Jack ⚡️ (@jack) April 5, 2022
Musk has expressed new ideas for the platform, including Add editing functionwhich the company has been working on since last year and dubbed the cryptobot “one of the most annoying problems“on the platform.
As the company’s largest shareholder, Musk will play a major role in determining the company’s direction.
But as a member of the 12-member board, he will not be responsible for day-to-day operations or decision-making.
This means that while he has a huge say in the company’s future, he cannot unilaterally implement feature changes or reverse policy decisions.
“This brought Musk back from the founder of X.com (later PayPal) back to the world of application communications — and maybe even payments. Twitter’s patent collection is strong, everything from tweets to semiconductor patents,” said Loren Bakerfounder of Search Engine Journal and Foundation Digital.
Twitter’s patent portfolio has more than 1,400 strong innovations, most of which are the result of acquisitions (Twitter itself has only filed 280 applications).
“It’s unclear exactly where Musk is, but like his solar and space ventures, most of his projects and acquisitions are closely tied to Tesla,” Baker noted, adding that an obvious link is the special Tweet on Sla’s screen.
“But with trust in Google and Meta declining, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Musk focus more on the news and trend-finding direction on Twitter,” Baker said.
“Also, every social media engine needs a face. Musk is the perfect replacement for Dorsey, who doubled down on fintec.”
Musk has ties to Twitter
Before acquiring a stake in the company, Musk was known to use Twitter to gather and influence public opinion on the site.
exist March 25he surveyed more than 80 million followers whether they thought Twitter strictly adhered to the principles of free speech.
When more than 70 percent answered “no,” he hinted that he was considering a new social media platform.
Criticism of Twitter’s promise of free speech January 8, 2021 Barring former President Donald Trump from repeatedly breaking company rules.
Additionally, Musk has expressed dissatisfaction with the way Twitter has cracked down on his finance-related tweets, particularly his Nov. 6, 2021 tweet asking if followers should sell some Tesla stock.
The SEC has claim it has legal authority The Tesla CEO was subpoenaed over the tweets, and his move to waive the 2018 court agreement was null and void.
“Because of Musk’s deep involvement, we could see some very fundamental changes in the way Twitter operates,” said Miranda MillerSenior Executive Editor of Search Engine Magazine.
“A few weeks ago, Musk tweeted at Jack Dorsey that Twitter’s algorithm should be open source, and followed up polls This collected over 1.1 million votes,” she noted.
Choosing which algorithm to use (or not to use) should be open to everyone https://t.co/o2DkSTWW0O
— Jack ⚡️ (@jack) March 25, 2022
“Elon has also been an outspoken critic of what he sees as Twitter’s inaction on crypto scams and free speech.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him advocate for a freer, more open, less restrained space on the board, which has the potential to become a greater responsibility for brands,” Miller said.
“On the other hand, he’s an innovator and has proven successful in online payments. This could be good news for Twitter’s social commerce initiatives. This is where they’ve historically struggled, and we’re in them This is an area of renewed focus as seen in the launch of the Shop module,” she explained.
Twitter shares soar after announcement
Shares of Twitter, Inc. surged 27% on the New York Stock Exchange after the announcement, from $39.30 to a high of $53.84.
It was the company’s biggest market gain since its 2013 IPO.At the time of writing, they are trading at $50.51.
Musk revealed his purchases on Monday, April 4, but a filing shows he began buying shares on January 31. Initial filing With the SEC is Form 13G, which indicates passive investing.
However, on Tuesday, April 5, he Submitted Form 13Dwhich is more commonly used by activist investors.
It remains to be seen whether the initial surge in stock prices is a sign of general public acceptance.
One thing’s for sure – Elon Musk has big plans for Twitter.
How influential he is, what changes he implemented, and how this affects digital marketing through the platform remains to be seen.
Featured Image: Shutterstock/jtstockimage
other sources:
