WASHINGTON (Great Lakes News) – When Twitter offered billionaire Elon Musk a spot on its Board of Directors after he bought more than 9% of the company and became its largest shareholder, it was really no offer at all but rather a threat to behave himself; or else.

The ‘offer’ came with the clear expectation that Musk would be a fiduciary. That meant he would be on the hook to do only what benefitted Twitter and its bottom line. If Musk Tweeted something that caused Twitter stock to take a hit, he would be liable for the financial fallout.

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Musk has more than 81 million followers on Twitter and his posts can drive stock prices up or down. After he bought into the company, the value of Twitter rose by 35% at one point. However, Musk is an outspoken critic of the platform and its squelching of free speech especially of conservative voices. Clearly the board was sending the very clear warning that you promote Twitter no matter what you think or there will be consequences. You can join the board but you’d better get in line.

It was a clear threat of what could happen if the self-styled, outspoken owner of Tesla and SpaceX and the richest man in the world stepped out of line in his comments regarding the social media giant.

“He was very smart for rejecting that offer and deciding to work from the outside”, said attorney David Kallman, of The Great Lakes Justice Center. “Twitter was telling him, you’d better stay in your place or else,” Kallman added.

There are laws regarding fiduciary responsibility and by accepting the position on the board Musk would have opened himself up to civil liability involving Twitter. And because one Tweet from Musk can move stock prices by several points that could mean billions of dollars and years of litigation. That was clearly something Musk was not interested in.

So the phony offer was rejected, as it should have been.

“You do what is best for Twitter or we will make you pay was the clear message they were sending in that so-called offer”, Kallman said.

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It’s clear from the answer, Elon Musk has other ideas about what he can say and when. He is an agent of change and Twitter threatening its largest shareholder will likely only embolden Musk to say more, more often.

Stay tuned.