Elon Musk (pictured) declined to join Twitter’s board of directors, CEO Parag Agrawal announced, in a dramatic U-turn after the company’s new largest shareholder appeared set to take a seat after securing a 9.2 per cent stake in the business.

Agrawal posted a letter on the platform, which was sent to staff, announcing the decision. He explained the board had held many discussions with Musk and was “excited to collaborate”, believing that as a fiduciary of the company it was the best path forward to offer him a seat.

However, after announcing early last week that Musk would be formally appointed to the board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance, the SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder declined the offer.

Agrawal said he believed “this is for the best”.

Open to input
When announcing Musk was to be appointed to the board, Agrawal had said he was “excited” to share the news, adding that “it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our board”.

Musk had responded at the time by stating he was looking forward to working with the Twitter board and “make significant improvements”.

The billionaire purchased 73.5 million Twitter shares in mid-March to give him a 9.2 per cent stake in the business, fuelling speculation he was seeking influence over the running of the company.

Agrawal added in his latest statement that while Musk had declined to join the board, it would “remain open to his input”.

“There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged. The decisions we make and how we executive is in our hands and no-one else’s.”

Deleted weekend tweets
Musk certainly seems to be enjoying the limelight. This weekend he posted a series of tweets asking for feedback on the platform (all of which have since been deleted).

He started by tweeting that all Twitter Blue subscribers “should get an authentication checkmark” that’s different from the verification one for official accounts and public and media figures.

In another he asked if its San Francisco headquarters should be converted to a homeless shelter since no workers seem to use it. And he polled Twitter to see if the ‘w’ should be removed from the company name.

One tweet that does remain raises doubt over the future viability of the platform: