Twitter board in chaos as Musk ally ousted

TWITTER’S board has been thrown into turmoil after investors ousted one of Elon Musk’s key allies while Jack Dorsey stepped away.

Shareholders voted against the reelection of Egon Durban, co-chief executive of Silver Lake Partners, who partnered with Mr Musk in his $44bn (£35bn) bid to take Twitter private.

Speculation has mounted that Mr Durban may provide financing for the Tesla boss’s buyout offer.

Meanwhile, Mr Dorsey’s term expired, meaning he will no longer have a presence on Twitter’s board for the first time since founding it in 2006.

The question of whether Twitter will complete a sale to Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, was avoided at the annual meeting yesterday, however.

Chief executive Parag Agrawal said the meeting would not discuss the bid “for regulatory and other reasons”.

The company last week said it remained committed to the deal at the agreed price. Earlier this month, Mr Musk tweeted the deal was “temporarily on hold” while he sought more information about the proportion of fake accounts on the site.

A Twitter spokesman said Mr Durban had offered his resignation and its corporate governance committee would “promptly consider” whether it should be accepted. His private equity firm took a $1bn stake in Twitter in March 2020, securing a seat on the board as part of the deal. That stake could net Silver Lake a $300m profit if Mr Musk’s buyout proceeds at its $54.20 price, according to reports.

Silver Lake did not respond to a request for comment.