Elon Musk: Twitter board salary will be $0 if I acquire company

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Inc, says if he acquires Twitter, he will cut the salaries of its board of directors to zero.

Twitter currently has 11 board members, including co-founder Jack Dorsey and recently-appointed chief executive officer Parag Agrawal.

In a tweet on Monday, Musk wrote,” “Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there”.

Musk was responding to a tweet by Gary Black, an investment advisor, who alleged that the board of directors’ interests are not in line with the interests of the company’s shareholders.

Black said that if Musk acquires Twitter, the board members would lose their $250,000 -$300,000 per year jobs.

Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2022

According to a filing with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Twitter gives approximately $2.9 million in cash and stock awards to board members.

Musk had claimed earlier that Twitter’s current board members collectively own relatively few shares of the company.

“Wow, with Jack (Dorsey) departing, the Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares!” Musk tweeted.

“Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.”

Wow, with Jack departing, the Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares! Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2022

Following Musk’s $43 billion offer to buy the company, Twitter’s board of directors enacted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, also called a “poison pill” to fend off a potential hostile takeover.

Musk is currently Twitter’s largest individual shareholder after he acquired a 9.2 per cent stake in the company.

Twitter subsequently announced that Musk would join its board of directors, but the billionaire rejected the seat.