Billionaire Elon Musk (pictured) jumped to the defense of under-pressure Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, as activist investors try to remove the social media founder.
But Musk tweeted: “Just want [to] say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO.” The chief of Tesla and SpaceX added that he thinks Dorsey has a good heart, using the heart emoji.
Just want say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a good ❤️.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2020
Musk and Dorsey continue supporting each other
Activist investor Elliott Management is seeking to oust Twitter founder Dorsey, it emerged late last week.
The $40.2bn hedge fund run by Paul Singer has taken a major stake in the social media company, thought to be worth $1bn, and has nominated four directors to Twitter’s board, as well as calling for Dorsey’s removal.
Elliott Management is one of the most successful activist investors on Wall Street. Another of its other current targets is Japanese technology investment giant SoftBank.
What @elonmusk thinks Twitter could be doing better. #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/BvAUee7rmn
— Mary Kate (@_maryjordan) January 16, 2020
Dorsey has drawn criticism from some investors for running two publicly traded companies: Twitter and payments group Square. He also said he plans to work up to six months a year in Africa.
However, Twitter shares rose nearly 8% on Monday as investors reacted to news of Elliott’s stake in the company. The rally added more than $2bn to Twitter’s market capitalization, lifting it to $28bn .
