Elon Musk turns down Twitter board position in last-minute decision

The world's richest man Elon Musk has turned down a position on the board of social media platform Twitter in a shock last-minute decision.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder was due to join the board officially on Friday, just days after becoming the company's biggest shareholder with an approximate 9 per cent stake.

But Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said Mr Musk informed him on the morning of his official start that he no longer wished to join the board.

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"We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance," Mr Agrawal said in a statement.

"Elon's appointment to the Board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the Board.

"I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input."

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Mr Agrawal also said that "there will be distractions ahead" but pledged to "tune out the noise".

Last week Mr Musk purchased 9.2 per cent of Twitter stock, worth almost $4 billion on the day of his acquisition.

He is a frequent user of the platform and boasts more than 80 million followers. In many instances he has shared messages that appear critical of the platform.

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"Given that Twitter serves as the de-facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy," Mr Musk tweeted last month.

"What should be done?"

He even ran a poll on whether Twitter should give users an "edit" feature, which the platform later confirmed it was already working on.