Mr Agrawal said: “We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks.
“We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.
“We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective (April 9), but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best.”
On Monday, Mr Musk “liked” a Twitter comment suggesting that he had invested in Twitter to promote free speech, but was “told to play nice and not speak freely”.
Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said: “This now goes from a Cinderella story with Musk joining the Twitter Board and keeping his stake under 14.9pc helping move Twitter strategically forward, to likely a ‘Game of Thrones’ battle between Musk and Twitter with the high likelihood that Elon takes a more hostile stance towards Twitter and further builds his active stake in the company.”
Mr Ives said Mr Musk could team up with a private equity partner to force changes or a sale.
Twitter’s bylaws contain a host of defences against a hostile takeover, including issuing new stock with special voting privileges and preventing shareholders from bringing new business at special meetings.
On Monday, Mr Musk deleted a series of tweets appearing to call for change at the social network, including cutting the price of its subscription service and turning its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.
Twitter’s market value currently sits at $37bn (£28bn), compared to Mr Musk’s net worth of $260bn.
