Twitter defies shareholders by keeping Elon Musk ally on the board

Twitter Director Egon Durban will remain on the company’s board of directors despite shareholders voting against him keeping his position at the company.

The company’s board had not accepted his resignation, Twitter said in a filing on Friday.

The tech giant said it believed Durban failed to win a majority vote in favor of his appointment because of proxy advisory firm voting guidelines, institutional investors having policies related to board service limitations, and investors being concerned that he currently sits on five other company boards.

“The board considers Mr. Durban a highly effective member and believes that he brings to the board an unparalleled operational knowledge of the industry, a unique perspective, and an invaluable skill set and experience with mergers and acquisitions,” the filing said.

Durban has agreed to reduce the number of boards he serves on from six to five by May 2023, according to the company.

“While the board does not believe that Mr. Durban’s other public company directorships will become an impediment, if such engagements were to continue, Mr. Durban’s commitment to reduce his board service commitment to five public company boards by the Remediation Date appropriately addresses the concerns raised by stockholders with regard to such engagements,” Twitter said Friday.

Durban is the co-CEO and managing director of private equity firm Silver Lake, which has previously been involved in deals with Twitter’s potential new owner Elon Musk.

He was on Twitter’s board when it unanimously approved Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the company.

Twitter shareholders filed a lawsuit against Musk on Wednesday, in which they accused him of “unlawful conduct” in relation to the deal.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com