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 $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. He 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 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%. Musk currently has a 9.1% 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% at $46.85, still significantly below Musk’s offer of $54.20 per share. They have risen roughly 15% since Musk disclosed his stake on April 4.