Elon Musk promises $0 board salaries if his Twitter takeover succeeds as company adopts 'poison pill'

Musk would end Twitter's Trump ban Tech and cybersecurity analyst Ritesh Kotak comments on the billionaire's possible plans for growing the platform.

Elon Musk took a swipe at the board of Twitter on Monday after the social media company adopted a "poison pill" to protect itself from the second-biggest shareholder's US$43 billion cash buyout offer.

"Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that's ~$3M/year saved right there," Musk tweeted in response to a user's post criticizing the board.

Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist" who has been critical of Twitter's policies, did not elaborate on the tweet. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Continuing his tirade against the company, Musk had launched a poll on Thursday asking his 80 million followers if "taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board," to which a large majority responded "Yes."

Later, the Tesla TSLA.O chief executive also tweeted "Love Me Tender," an Elvis Presley song, after Twitter opted a plan to sell shares at a discount to prevent any attempt by shareholders to amass a stake of more than 15 per cent. Musk currently has a 9.1 per cent stake.

Meanwhile, in a series of tweet replies, co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey called out Twitter's board on Saturday, saying "it's consistently been the dysfunction of the company."

Dorsey's statement was a reply to a tweet by venture capitalist Garry Tan that said: "The wrong partner on your board can literally make a billion dollars in value evaporate."

Shares of Twitter were up about 4 per cent at US$46.85, still significantly below Musk's offer of US$54.20 per share. They have risen roughly 15 per cent since Musk disclosed his stake on April 4.

Meanwhile, Twitter has also been informed by Thoma Bravo, a technology-focused private equity firm that had more than US$103 billion in assets under management as of the end of December, that it was exploring the possibility of putting together a bid. Read full story

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma, Chavi Mehta and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Arun Koyyur)