Elon Musk decided against joining Twitter's board, CEO says, and 'this is for the best'

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Sunday night — on Twitter, naturally — that Tesla CEO Elon Musk informed him Saturday that he will not join Twitter's board of directors, as planned. Agrawal said he was sharing what he could about what happened.

After Musk became Twitter's largest individual shareholder, the company invited him to join the board, in part because they "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," Agrawal wrote, adding that the appointment was "contingent on a background check." The morning his appointment was to take effect, Musk backed out, he added. "I believe this is for the best."

"Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input," Agrawal said. "The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else's."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.