In reversal, Elon Musk will not join Twitter's board

Elon Musk has decided against joining the board of Twitter after news of his appointment arrived early last week. Musk recently became the largest outside shareholder in the social media platform when he purchased a 9.2% stake for close to $3 billion.

On Sunday, however, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk had opted not to join the board, a message which the latter had shared with the board on April 9, the day Musk's board membership was set to become official. 

"I believe this is for the best," he wrote. "We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his output."

At the time of the initial announcement that Musk would join the board, Agrawal and outgoing board member and former CEO Jack Dorsey praised the Tesla founder and welcomed his input. 

Agrawal warned his employees that "There will be distractions ahead," and encouraged them to stay focused. "The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else’s. Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building," he wrote.

Twitter has not yet elaborated on Musk's decision not to take a seat on the board. 

Later on Sunday, Musk tweeted out the giggling emoji. Prior to the announcement, he spent the weekend tweeting suggestions about how to improve the company – including one poll in which he asked his followers if Twitter headquarters in San Francisco should be turned into a homeless shelter "since no one shows up anyway."