Elon Musk joins Twitter's board of directors 'to make significant improvements'

A day after he bought a major stake in Twitter and became its largest shareholder, Tesla CEO Elon Musk will join the social network's board of directors, Twitter's chief executive said Tuesday.

"I'm excited to share that we're appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board," Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet.

Replying to Aggarwal, Musk tweeted "Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!"

The CEO of the company called Musk "a passionate believer and intense critic of the service, which we need" at the company.

Musk, who is the world's wealthiest man and has more than 80 million followers on Twitter, acquired 73.5 million shares or 9.2 per cent of the company's common stock on Monday.

It is common for the billionaire to use the platform to make provocative and controversial remarks about current affairs and other public figures, alongside whimsical and business-related remarks.

Additionally, he has frequently clashed with federal securities regulators, who cracked down on his social media presence after his alleged attempt to take Tesla private in 2018 fizzled.

Watch |Elon Musk becomes Twitter's top share holder

Twitter's approach to freedom of speech has also been criticized by Musk, who launched a poll last month in which he asked if the network adhered to the principle -- to which a majority of respondents said no.

A securities filing states that Musk will remain on Twitter's board until the company's annual shareholder's meeting in 2024, during which time he will not take a stake greater than 14.9 per cent in the company.

(With inputs from agencies)