Musk would have been appointed to Twitter’s board on Saturday, but the world’s richest man informed the company the same day that he would not actually take a board seat.
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Twitter Director Egon Durban will not leave the board, even though he has offered to resign after shareholders voted to remove him, the company said in a statement. regulatory filing Friday.
Twitter said its board believes that Durban failed to gain shareholder support because of its directorial role on several other public company boards. Twitter noted that Durban serves on the boards of six other publicly traded companies, but said it has agreed to reduce the number of public company boards to five by May 25, 2023.
“While the Board does not consider that the directorship of Mr. Durban’s other public company will become a hindrance if such engagements are continued, Mr. Durban’s five public company boards have the potential to reduce his board service commitment.” The commitment appropriately addresses the concerns raised with regard to such engagements by the shareholders,” the company said in the filing. “Accordingly, the Board has reached the determination that it is not in the best interest of the Company to accept Mr. Durban’s tender resignation at this time.”
“The Board considers Mr. Durban a highly effective member and believes that he brings to the Board an unparalleled operational knowledge of the industry, a unique perspective, and an invaluable skill set and experience with mergers and acquisitions,” the filing added. The Board noted that Mr. Durban has strengthened his ability to oversee the Company’s long-term value creation strategy and to effectively control its implementation. In addition, Mr. Durban is consistently well prepared, engaged and a worthwhile contributor to Board meetings and discussions.”
Corporate governance advisory firm International Shareholder Services advised against Durban’s continued service as a director, citing its other board commitments.
Durban, co-CEO and managing director of private equity firm Silver Lake, was on the board when it The sale of Twitter to billionaire Elon Musk was unanimously approved last month,
Silver Lake has previously worked on deals with Musk, including investing $100 million in its solar business, SolarCity, before being acquired by Musk-run. Tesla, musk Said he was working with Silver Lake In 2018 when he claimed to have taken Tesla private, though that never came to fruition.
Separately this week, Twitter shareholders filed Proposed class-action lawsuit Against Musk and Twitter over the acquisition, which has caused stock volatility. The lawsuit alleges that Musk bought Twitter shares knowing insider information was based on private conversations with board members, including Durban. Twitter and Silver Lake declined to comment on the lawsuit, and Musk did not return a request for comment.