Twitter director and Elon Musk ally Aegon Durban will keep his seat on the company’s board — even after shareholders voted to oust him, the social-media giant revealed Friday.
Shareholders rejected Durban’s re-election to the board at the company’s annual meeting earlier this week, which some saw as a potential swindle of Musk. Durban, the top boss of private equity giant Silver Lake, was linked to Musk’s previous attempt to take Tesla private in 2018.
Twitter said in an SEC filing that Durban’s nomination was declined because he sits on the boards of six other publicly traded companies. The filing did not mention Durban’s affiliation with Musk.
“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 by shareholders in relation to such engagements,” Twitter’s SEC filing stated.
“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 filing said.
Twitter said in its filing that the decision to retain Durban independently was made because he did not participate in the board’s discussion about accepting his resignation.
The company said its board considers 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 board’s decision to retain Durban came as the company was trying to salvage talks with Musk. The billionaire originally offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, but has since expressed reticence about the deal due to concerns about spam bots within its active user base.
Twitter shares rallied earlier this week after Musk committed another $6.25 billion in equity financing for his $44 billion offer – a sign that the deal is likely to take off despite last-minute odds. can still move forward.
Meanwhile, Twitter has taken steps to streamline its operations and limit spending during buyout talks. Several top executives have left the company this month.
The social media firm has also stopped hiring during negotiations and has even turned down some job offers already given to candidates.
