'Musk met then Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal; didn't approve of him', says American author

Walter Isaacson, a writer who spent three years following Elon Musk for his biography ‘Elon Musk,’ disclosed recently that days before buying Twitter, Musk had a dinner meeting with Parag Agarwal, who was then the CEO of the company.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) shared an excerpt from the book, shedding light on Mr. Musk’s thoughts about Mr. Agarwal during their March meeting.

In this meeting, Mr. Musk stated that he found Mr. Agarwal to be a nice person. However, he pointed out a crucial leadership quality that he believed was missing in him. As per the WSJ report, Musk’s philosophy was that managers shouldn’t prioritize being liked. He remarked, “What Twitter needs is a fire breathing dragon, and Parag does not fit that description.”

The book is scheduled for release on September 12.

It’s worth noting that Bret Taylor, the then-chair of Twitter’s board, also attended this dinner meeting, according to Mr. Isaacson.

After the meeting, both Mr. Musk and Mr. Agarwal exchanged friendly messages. These messages were made public in September 2022 as part of Twitter’s lawsuit against Mr. Musk.

Parag Agarwal messaged Elon Musk on March 27, 2022, saying, “Hey Elon – great to be connected directly. Would love to chat.” To which, Mr. Musk responded with a simple “Great dinner :).”

However, tensions arose in April when Mr. Musk sent out a tweet from Hawaii, questioning the activity of some of Twitter’s top accounts and suggesting that Twitter might be declining.

Ninety minutes later, Mr. Agarwal sent Mr. Musk a text message. He expressed his understanding that Mr. Musk was free to express his thoughts about Twitter but advised him that it wasn’t helping improve Twitter in the current context.

While Mr. Musk’s response was sharp, asking Mr. Agarwal what he had accomplished that week, it was noted in the WSJ report as a significant critique from Mr. Musk.

In another message, Mr. Musk conveyed his reluctance to join Twitter’s board and his belief that the current situation was a waste of time. He hinted at making an offer to take Twitter private.

Mr. Agarwal requested a conversation with Mr. Musk, and Twitter’s board chair also sought “five minutes” to talk. However, Mr. Musk firmly believed that chatting with Mr. Agarwal wouldn’t address Twitter’s issues and insisted that drastic action was required.

Ultimately, an agreement was reached to take Twitter private in October. One of the initial actions Mr. Musk took was to remove Mr. Agarwal from his position.