OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
In an interesting twist, former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey slammed the company’s board of directors as entrepreneur Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, offered $43 billion to buy the company outright last week.
This comes as a surprise because Musk is strongly opposed to the widespread censorship on the social platform, which was largely established under Dorsey’s watch. Musk is looking to transform the company and take it private in order to ensure it allows for free speech.
Dorsey is also widely known for supporting left-wing politicians who back censorship on social platforms. In 2019, Dorsey contributed financially to the campaigns of Democratic 2020 presidential candidates Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang. In 2020, he donated $15 million to 29 mayors pursuing the piloting of “guaranteed basic income” programs in the United States.
Commenting about the company’s board, which has initially blocked Musk’s purchase, Dorsey said, “It’s consistently been the dysfunction of the company.”
Dorsey was responding to the following tweet when he made his remark, “If look into the history of Twitter board, it’s intriguing as I was a witness on its early beginnings, mired in plots and coups, and particularly amongst Twitter’s founding members. I wish if it could be made into a Hollywood thriller one day.”
it’s consistently been the dysfunction of the company
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 17, 2022
Dorsey also said “big facts” in response to the following statement from venture capitalist Fred Destin: “What I do know for sure is that this old Silicon Valley proverb is grounded in age-old wisdom that still applies today: Good boards don’t create good companies, but a bad board will kill a company every time.”
When asked if he was allowed to say this publicly given the fact that he is still on the company’s board, Dorsey responded, “No.”
no
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 17, 2022
More on this story via Daily Wire:
Twitter has attempted to stop Musk from taking over the company by adopting a so-called “poison pill” that effectively allows all shareholders, except those trying to buy out the company, to purchase newly offered shares at a discounted price.
Musk would have to purchase the new shares at a higher price, which could end up being too much for him to afford, if he wanted to take over the company. Despite throwing a massive roadblock in Musk’s way, the adoption of the poison pill would not bar Musk from being able to buy the company, it would only make it harder.
“A poison pill is a way to stave off someone until you can get a higher price. It makes it outrageously expensive for the person to buy it,” said Charles Elson, the founding director of the University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. “It’s a doomsday machine, it’s the atomic bomb, everyone gets wiped out — that’s the key.”
Musk revealed during a TED Talk last week that he had a plan in place if Twitter blocked his attempt to buy the company.
“If in this case you are not successful in that the board does not accept your offer, you’ve said you won’t go higher, is there a plan B?” Musk was asked.
“There is,” Musk responded while smiling.
When asked what his backup plan is, Musk said he would discuss that at another time.
