Elon Musk dissolves Twitter's board, becomes the sole director

Chief Twit Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter's board of directors after his takeover of the company, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Monday.

Musk, according to the filing, became "the sole director of Twitter", reports CNN.

It confirms that instead of joining Twitter's board of directors, Elon Musk is now their sole replacement.

"On October 27, 2022, and as a result of the consummation of the Merger, Musk became the sole director of Twitter," read the filing.

"In accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement, effective as of the effective time of the Merger, the following persons, who were directors of Twitter prior to the effective time of the Merger, are no longer directors of Twitter: Bret Taylor, Parag Agrawal, Omid Kordestani, David Rosenblatt, Martha Lane Fox, Patrick Pichette, Egon Durban, Fei-Fei Li, and Mimi Alemayehou," according to the SEC filing.

The company filing said that all previous members of Twitter's board, including recently ousted CEO Agrawal and Chairman Taylor, are no longer directors "in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement."

Musk took over as Twitter boss and his first job was to reportedly fire Indian-origin CEO Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, the company's policy chief Vijaya Gadde and others.
 

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4 things Musk hates about Twitter and wants to change

JOB CUTS

Layoff lists were drawn up and ranked based on individuals’ contributions to Twitter’s code during their time at the company. The assessment was made by both Tesla personnel and Twitter managers.

LEADERSHIP

Musk has turned towards friends for advice in the first few days of his Twitter ownership. He’s been meeting with David Sacks, a venture capitalist and pal from his PayPal days; Jason Calacanis, an investor; and Sriram Krishnan, a former Twitter executive.

VINE

Musk is considering a revival of Vine. Vine, acquired by Twitter in 2012, was a popular short-form video app, which minted several internet stars before it faded and was shut down. 

VERIFICATION

Musk wants to start charging users for the blue-check verification badge. He has tasked a team with building the option under threat of having their roles eliminated in seven days.

Twitter’s new investors

Jack Dorsey

Twitter’s co-founder and former chief executive officer rolled over just more than 18 million shares, or about 2.4 per cent of the public company, worth about $978 million at the merger price. That gave him shares of Musk’s X Holdings I Inc., which controls Twitter.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal

Regulatory filings show the Saudi Prince moved almost 35 million Twitter shares through the Kingdom Holding Corporation, worth about $1.9 billion at the $54.2 per share sale price. That made him the second-largest investor in the new parent company.

Qatar Investment Authority
 

A subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar contributed $375 million in exchange for shares of Elon Musk’s holding company.

‘F*** that’, says Stephen King; ‘How about $8?’ asks Musk

Bestselling author Stephen King’s tweet expressing disappointment over the anticipated fee for a verified badge has drawn a response from Elon Musk.

Amid speculation that Twitter may soon start charging verified users a monthly fee for the blue ticks on their handles, King said, “$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”

Responding to King’s tweet, Musk said, “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”

Twitter is looking to raise its optional Twitter Blue monthly subscription price to $19.99 from 

$4.99, and launch new features including paid user verification, The Verge reported.

Musk has said the verification process for accounts is being revamped. He did not add any details. 

Musk, who recently changed his Twitter bio to ‘Chief Twit’, has now changed it to ‘Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator’.
 

Meanwhile, Twitter’s advertising chief Sarah Personette tweeted that she had resigned her post last week.