Elon Musk vows $0 salary for Twitter’s board after ‘poison pill’ adopted

Elon Musk took a swipe at the board of Twitter after the social media company adopted a "poison pill" to protect itself from Musk's buyout offer.

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 US$54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board,” to which a large majority responded “Yes.”

Later, the Tesla 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.”