Jack Dorsey pushed for at least a YEAR to get Elon Musk to join board
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey pushed for at least a YEAR to get Elon Musk to join the social media giant’s board – and ended up quitting firm after executives resisted his plan
- Elon Musk’s text messages regarding his $44 billion Twitter takeover revealed that he had the full backing of founder Jack Dorsey
- Dorsey said he had tried to get Musk on the board for at least a year and said he was quitting after facing opposition from the board
- The texts reveal Dorsey’s frustration over the company and hopes that Musk would take charge of Twitter and change things for the better
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey had pushed to get Elon Musk on the company’s board for at least a year and quit the board when they initially rejected him.
Newly released texts from Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk revealed that Dorsey had reached out to the Tesla CEO in March when he bought 9 percent of the company’s stock.
In texts dated March 26, Dorsey liked Musk’s characterization of Twitter’s algorithm as ‘hidden corruption,’ and agreed that the world’s richest man should be the one to take the reigns of the company after he leaves the board in May.
‘I wanted to talk with you about it after I was all clear, because you care so much, get it’s importance, and could def help in immeasurable ways,’ Dorsey told Musk.
‘Back when we had the activist come in, I tried my hardest to get you on our board, and our board said no. That’s about the time I decided I needed to work to leave, as hard as it was for me.’
Dorsey also condemned the company’s decision to reject Musk from the board, writing: ‘I think the main reason is the board is just super risk averse and saw adding you as more risk, which I thought was completely stupid and backwards.’
Along with Dorsey’s endorsement of Musk, the texts also revealed the breakdown between the SpaceX CEO and Twitter head Parag Agrawal, as well as messages from several celebrities congratulating Musk’s takeover bid.
Elon Musk’s text messages regarding his $44 billion Twitter takeover have been released, revealing heated exchanges about the deal
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (left) had tried to get Musk on the board for at least a year and said he quit after facing opposition from the board. He also offered to smooth things over between Musk and current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (right)
The texts reveal Dorsey’s frustration and hopes that Musk would take charge of Twitter
As Elon became the largest shareholder of Twitter in early April, he began texting with Agrawal about how he would best be integrated into the Twitter team.
While the two appeared to be on friendly terms, with Agrawal even texting Musk for approval on his tweet announcing his joining of the board on April 5, things broke down quickly as Musk continued to criticize Twitter.
After he tweeted ‘Is Twitter dying?’ on April 9, Agrawal chastised Musk, who was pointing out that the company’s ‘top’ accounts rarely tweeted.
Agrawal wrote: ‘ You are free to tweet ‘is Twitter dying?’ or anything else a bout Twitter – but it’s my responsibility to tell you that it’s not helping me make Twitter better in the current context.
Next time we speak, I’d like to you provide you perspective on the level of internal distraction right now and how it hurting our ability to do work. I hope the AMA will help people get to know you, to understand why you believe in Twitter, and to trust you – and I’d like the company to get to a place where we are more resilient and don’t get distracted, but we aren’t there right now.
Elon swung back at Agrawal, writing: ‘ What did you get done this week? I’m not joining the board. This is a waste of time.
‘Will make an offer to take Twitter private.’
Texts from April 9 (above) reveal a fallout between Musk and Agrawal
Agrawal had taken issue with a tweet Musk posted that day asking if the platform was dead
Just days earlier, Agrawal had asked Elon to approve his tweet announcing he was joining the board (above)
Just two days after the texts, Musk was rejected from the board, again, with the billionaire venting his frustrations in texts with Jason Calacanis, a tech investor and podcaster.
As Calacanis criticizes Twitter’s product plans as ‘dog s**t,’ Musk agrees and mocks Agrawal’s apparent lack of leadership at such a critical time.
‘Btw, Parag is still on a ten day vacation in Hawaii,’ Musk wrote.
‘No reason to cut it short… in your first tour as CEO (!!!),’ Calacanis wrote. ‘Shouldn’t he be in a war room right now?!?’
‘Does doing occasional zoom calls while drinking fruity cocktails at the Four Seasons count,’ Musk replied.
In a messages date April 26, just a day after a deal was reached for Musk to purchase the social media giant for $44 billion, Dorsey offered to smooth things over between Agrawal and Musk.
‘I want to make sure Parag is doing everything possible to build towards your goals until close’ Dorsey wrote Musk. ‘He is really great at getting things done when tasked with specific direction.
‘Would it make sense for me you and him to get on a call and discuss next steps and get really clear on what’s needed?’
After Elon agreed and thanked him for his help, Dorsey wrote: ‘I won’t let this fail and will do whatever it takes. It’s too critical to humanity.’
Musk, however, continued to vent his frustrations over Agrawal’s management, saying that the Twitter CEO was ‘moving far too slowly and trying please people who will not be happy no matter what he does.’
Dorsey replied: ‘At least it became clear that you can’t work together. That was clarifying.’
In an April 16 exchange with podcaster Jason Calacanis, Musk continued to criticize Agrawal
Dorsey offered to act as a bridge between Agrawal and Musk after the Tesla CEO announced he was purchasing Twitter for $44 billion
Along with the drama between the billionaires, the texts also showed that several celebrities reached out to Musk regarding his takeover bid.
Podcaster Joe Rogan was among the first to message Musk, asking the world’s richest man if he was going to do something about Twitter’s banning practices.
‘Are you going to liberate Twitter from the censorship happy mob,’ Rogan asked on April 4.
‘I will provide advice, which they may or may not choose to follow,’ Musk replied.
By the time Musk was expected to announce that he would be purchasing the social media giant, Rogan texted him again to show his support.
‘I REALLY hope you get Twitter,’ Rogan wrote. ‘If you do, we should throw a hell of a party.’
Podcaster Joe Rogan was one of the first celebrities to reach out to Musk and show his support of the billionaire’s bid to purchase Twitter
Musk had famously appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience smoking a joint. Musk would later use a pic of that show to comment that Twitter’s next board meeting would be ‘lit’
A few days later, CBS journalist Gayle King reached out to Musk to try and get the Tesla CEO to sit down and talk to her about his plans with Twitter.
King told Musk that she supported his proposal for an edit button on Twitter, writing: ‘we all say s**t we regret [and] want to take back in the heat of the moment.’
Musk replied a few days later, quipping: ‘maybe Oprah would be interested in joining the Twitter board if my bid succeeds.’
A few days later, CBS journalist Gayle King reached out to Musk to try and get the Tesla CEO to sit down and talk to her about his plans with Twitter
Gayle King texted her support of Musk’s Twitter takeover
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