Elon Musk explains how he'd save Twitter $3 million a year right away (no wonder the board's against his bid!)

Doug P. | 11:19 AM on April 18, 2022

Last week the Twitter Board of Directors adopted a “poison pill” in an effort to keep Elon Musk from buying the company:

Twitter adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, often called a “poison pill,” a day after billionaire Elon Musk offered to buy the company for $43 billion, the company announced Friday.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the plan.

Under the new structure, if any person or group acquires beneficial ownership of at least 15% of Twitter’s outstanding common stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders will be allowed to purchase additional shares at a discount.

The plan is set to expire on April 14, 2023.

Saturday, Elon Musk pointed out that the Twitter Board of Directors owns almost no shares:

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

How many shares do board members hold? Just a few dozen:

Elon Musk is in for a bad time.

I’m not sure he’s prepared to take on a couple PhDs, a few MBAs, and a Baroness who use Twitter once a year (to reset their passwords) and collectively own 77 shares of the company. pic.twitter.com/sJmKwHbzVh

— Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) April 16, 2022

Here’s more about the board:

The $TWTR board’s interests aren’t waligned with TWTR shareholders. The board serves to represent shareholders. If they refuse to act in the best interest of SHs, they should be removed and replaced by new board members who understand their fiduciary obligations. https://t.co/MqsysyktkT

— Gary Black (@garyblack00) April 17, 2022

Let me point out something obvious: If @elonmusk takes $TWTR private, the TWTR board members don’t have jobs any more, which pays them $250K-$300K per year for what is a nice part-time job. That could explain a lot. pic.twitter.com/vLgpEZpapA

— Gary Black (@garyblack00) April 17, 2022

No wonder the board doesn’t seem moved by any duty to the stockholders — they don’t even have much of a stake in the company. However, they do profit a bit via salaries, and Musk says that’ll be taken care of if he takes over Twitter: