Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk is set to join Twitter’s board of directors after purchasing nearly 73.5 million shares, worth about $2.89 billion.

On Tuesday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal acknowledged Mr Musk joining the board.

“Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board,” Mr Agrawal said in a tweet.  

Mr Musk responded to the CEO’s tweet, saying he was “looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”

According to the filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Musk’s term will expire in 2024 and he cannot be the beneficial owner of more than 14.9 per cent of the company’s common stock outstanding.

Mr Musk’s 9.2 per cent is a passive stake, which usually means the stakeholder is not trying to control or influence the company.

Mr Musk’s purchase comes after criticising Twitter’s policies regarding free speech and scrutiny by Tesla’s investors and regulators.

He had criticised Twitter last month about whether it adheres to free speech principles, adding that he was considering building a new social media platform.