Twitter’s founder and former top executive Jack Dorsey blasted the company’s board on Sunday — while the embattled executives are locked in a row over whether to accept billionaire Elon Musk’s $43 billion bid to buy the social media should accept platform.
Dorsey slammed the board in response to a post in which a user quipped that the company’s “early beginnings” were “embroiled in plots and coups” among its founding leaders.
“It was always the dysfunction of the company,” said Dorsey.
Later, when asked by another user if he was “allowed to say that” via the Twitter board, Dorsey replied “no.”
In another tweet, Dorsey responded to a user who quoted venture capitalist Fred Destin praising a “Silicon Valley proverb” that says, “Good boards don’t make good companies, but a bad board will kill a company every time.”
“Big Facts” Dorsey replied.
Jack Dorsey resigned as CEO of Twitter last November. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jack Dorsey owns just over 2% of Twitter stock. Bloomberg via Getty Images
it was consistently the dysfunction of the firm
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 17, 2022
The tweets were among the most direct criticisms yet of Dorsey, who resigned from his second term as Twitter CEO last November. Dorsey will also leave Twitter’s board of directors when his current term expires at the company’s annual meeting in late May.
Dorsey has yet to directly comment on Musk’s offer to buy Twitter.
Musk last week offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share after he backed out of an agreement to take a seat on the company’s board of directors following disagreements over the company’s future. Before that agreement fell apart, Dorsey tweeted that he was “really happy” that Musk would be joining the board.
I’m really happy that Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it.
Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts and they will make an incredible team. https://t.co/T4rWEJFAes
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 5, 2022
Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion. AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Musk stepped up his own criticism of Twitter’s board after it issued a “poison pill” regulation to limit its ability to acquire more shares. The Tesla CEO has demanded that Twitter’s board of directors allow shareholders to vote on his offer.
The billionaire responded to a user who shared a chart showing Twitter chairman Bret Taylor and other board members owned a tiny fraction of the company’s stock.
“Wow, with Jack gone, the Twitter board as a whole is almost out of stock! Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders,” Musk said.
The executive pay is $0 if my bid is successful, so that’s ~$3 million a year saved right there
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2022
In another tweet, Musk indicated that he would cut all board salaries to zero if his offer were accepted. Investor Gary Black had suggested that Twitter board members could turn down Musk’s offer because they would lose a payday.
According to FactSet data cited by CNBC, Musk owns about 9% of Twitter’s stock, while Dorsey owns just over 2.2%.
It’s unclear how Musk will proceed if Twitter rejects his offer, although he said last week he has a “plan B” in mind — which could include a takeover bid direct to shareholders.