New majority Twitter shareholder Elon Musk issued a poll to his millions of followers on the social media platform Saturday, sarcastically asking if he should transform the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters into a homeless shelter.
In the post, Musk – who purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant earlier this week and was subsequently named to the company’s board of directors – seemingly took aim at the company’s lax remote working policies, saying he came up with the plan ‘since no one shows up anyway.’
So far, the results of the 24-hour poll, posted at 9:30 PM ET by the billionaire businessman, suggests overwhelming support for the prospective undertaking – with 91.8 percent of more than 523,114 respondents voting in favor of the plan within two hours of its posting.
The post from the outspoken Tesla CEO, known for his social media antics, comes weeks after Twitter brass – who offered staffers the option of working from home ‘forever’ during the pandemic – reopened its offices March 15, with remote work remaining an option for staffers.
In the post, Musk seemingly took aim at the company’s lax remote working policies, sarcastically saying he came up with the plan ‘since no one shows up anyway.’ So far, 91.8 percent of 523,114 respondents voted in favor of the plan, within two hours of its posting
Musk became the company’s majority shareholder this week after it was revealed he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant earlier this week and was subsequently named to the company’s board of directors
‘It’s been almost two years since we closed our offices and travel and I’m excited to announce that we’re ready to fully open up business travel and all our offices around the world!’ Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote in a note to employees posted to Twitter March 3.
‘Business travel is back effective immediately, and office openings will start on March 15,’ the exec wrote.
In the statement, Agrawal, who was promoted to CEO of the San Francisco-based company in November, said that he would be honoring a policy put in place by former head exec Jack Dorsey during the early days of the pandemic, that said staffers could work remotely ‘forever’ if they wanted to.
‘Our top priority since the beginning of the pandemic has been to keep you all safe and this will continue,’ Agrawal wrote.
‘Now we are returning to a stage where you’re living your lives, adjusting to local health guidelines, and deciding what works best for you.
‘So, the decisions about where you work, whether you feel safe travelling for business, and what events you attend, should be yours,’ the exec added, in a sentence this time set in bold.
‘As we open back up, our approach remains the same,’ Agrawal, 37, went on.
‘Wherever you feel most productive and creative is where you will work and that include working from home full-time forever,’ the CEO wrote, in another bolded sentence.
‘Office every day? That works too. Some days in the office, some days from home? Of course.’
Agrawal, however, warned that ‘distributed working will be much, much harder’ and said ‘there will be lots of challenges’ amid the new policy.
Agrawal went on to tout the advantages of having staffers in the same physical space, where they can experience the ‘company culture,’ and said that visits to the office will ‘bring that culture to life in such a powerful way.’
The CEO then provided a signoff that seemed hopeful of staffers’ desire to return to in-person work.
‘I look forward to seeing you all back at the office or perhaps at an event, somewhere in your home city, or mine?’
‘Cant’ wait… Parag.’
The post from Muck comes weeks after Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the company would be reopening its offices March 15, with remote work remaining an option for staffers. During the pandemic, the company offered staffers the option of working from home ‘forever’
In the statement, Agrawal, who was promoted to CEO of the San Francisco-based company in November, said he would be honoring a policy put in place by former head exec Jack Dorsey during the early days of the pandemic that allowed staffers to work remotely indefinitely
More than a month later, as Silicon Valley’s tech workers are starting to filter back to the office as Covid-19 cases plummet, it looks as if the CEO’s faith in staffers’ desire to return to work in-person was misplaced – something new board member Musk seemed to hone in on with his mocking post.
Google, for instance, told employees last month that it would begin requiring employees to return in person at least three days a week – a policy that went into effect this past week
Apple similarly announced that by April 11, employees will have to work from the office at least one day a week.
Twitter, meanwhile, has not issued any in-person requirements for its staffers – a decision Musk seemingly panned in his post.
Staffers at the San Francisco-headquarter company now have the option to come into the office – a policy Musk seemingly took aim at with the Saturday poll. Pictured is Twitters San Francisco office last summer
Prior to posting the poll, Musk also suggested further changes to Twitter’s business models in a series of tweets suggesting tweaks to the platform’s premium Blue service, including a cheaper subscription price, banning ads and offering the option to pay in cryptocurrency.
The service, which offers users access to additional features, like an undo button and ad-free news articles, currently costs $2.99 a month.
‘Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn’t get checkmark for 60 days (watch for credit card chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,’ Musk wrote Saturday.
‘And no ads,’ the South African mogul added. ‘The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.’
Musk also declared that ‘Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark.’
Prior to posting the poll, Musk also suggested further changes to Twitter’s business models in a series of tweets suggesting tweaks to the platform’s premium Blue service, including a cheaper subscription price, banning ads and offering the option to pay in cryptocurrency
Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, ruffled feathers this week when it was announced he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant – making him the platform’s largest shareholder – and was joining the company’s board of directors.
Twitter entered into its board membership agreement with Musk on Monday, an SEC report revealed.
After submitting the regulatory filing Tuesday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Musk’s board membership on the social media, alleging the billionaire brings ‘great value’ to the company.
‘I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board,’ Agrawal wrote.
‘He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!’
Musk responded to the CEO, saying: ‘Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!’
Other board members seemed receptive to Musk – who has 80 million Twitter followers – joining their ranks, with several issuing welcome messages online, including platform founder Jack Dorsey.
Twitter board members, including founder Jack Dorsey, seemed excited about Musk’s appointment
Several, including Omid Kordestani, the board’s executive chairman and a current member, posted messages of welcome to the platform
Board chair and Salesforce Co-CEO Bret Taylor said they were excited to work with Musk
‘I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it,’ Dorsey tweeted. ‘Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team.’
Board chair and Salesforce Co-CEO Bret Taylor echoed the sentiment, saying: ‘Welcome to the Twitter board, @elonmusk! We are all excited to work with you and build the future of Twitter together.’
Taylor’s post was retweeted by fellow board members Mimi Alemayehou, Senior Vice President for Public-Private Partnership at Mastercard; Martha Lane Fox, Founder and Chairperson of Lucky Voice Group; and Stanford University professor Dr. Fei-Fei Li.
Omid Kordestani, the board’s executive chairman and a current member, wrote: ‘Welcome @elonmusk!’
The four remaining board members – Former World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Invoia Capital general partner Patrick Pichette, 1stdibs.com Inc. CEO David Rosenblatt, and Egon Durban, Co-CEO of Silver Lake – did not publicly comment on Musk’s appointment to the board.
None of the members immediately responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
Twitter stocks have surged since mid-March when Musk purchased his stake
Stock prices rose by more than 3 percent on Tuesday after news of Musk’s board appointment
Millions of investors flocked to Twitter’s stock after Musk disclosed his 9.2 percent stake in the company.
The stock became the most bought U.S. stock by retail investors on Monday, surging 27 percent in value.
Stock prices rose by more than three percent, to 50.98, on Tuesday after news of Musk’s board appointment. The stock was trading at around 39 on Friday.
In the latest Forbes list, Musk, increased his net worth to $282billion, nearly $100billion richer than Amazon founder Bezos, whose net worth is $183.6billion.
Earlier this week, Musk tweeted a poll saying ‘Do you want an edit button?’ for Twitter.
Agrawal later responded to the tweet: ‘The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,’ apparently trolling Musk for saying the same thing in a March 25 tweet when he questioned whether Twitter ‘adheres to the principle’ of free speech.
A majority of voters said yes, with bosses there confirming one is already in the works when it was announced April 1 and denied that Musk had any role in its inception.
Earlier this week, he asked tweeters if they’d like to see an edit button, with the firm subsequently confirming that one was already in the works
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted afterwards that ‘the consequences of this poll will be important,’ apparently trolling Musk for saying the same thing in a March 25 tweet about whether the company ‘adheres to the principle’ of free speech
Musk previously came under fire for another poll posted to the platform in December, when he asked his followers whether he should sell his then 10 percent stake in his own company.
The SEC in February said it was probing a stock sale valued at $109M by Musk’s brother, Kimbal a day before that tweet.
The tweet from Musk saw a swift decline in Tesla stock that erased $35 billion from his net worth in the span of day.
Musk, 50, poised a question to his horde of 63.1 million Twitter followers on Saturday asking if he should sell 10 percent of his $250 billion stake in the company
In the months since, the stock briefly recovered at the end of last year, nearing $1200 before coming into a freefall in 2022, hitting $846 at the end of January and languishing in the $700s in February.
During this marked decline, Musk sold off a stunning $16 billion in shares and donated $5.7 billion worth to charity, seemingly foreseeing the effect his posting would have on the share price.
Now, the tech tycoon faces the possibility of another Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe over the massive profits he reaped after delaying the disclosure of his Twitter stock purchase by 11 days, during which time he earned approximately $156million in profits.