Musk looks for ‘someone foolish enough’ to replace him as Twitter CEO

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Elon Musk declared that he will step down as Twitter CEO once he finds “someone foolish enough” to take over.
• Musk made the statement after a majority of Twitter respondents voted “Yes” on a poll asking if he should resign.
• Musk previously said that he had too much on his plate and would reduce his time at Twitter.

Elon Musk has announced that he will step down as the Twitter chief when he finds someone to take over.

Musk wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

The statement is his first response since 57.5% of 17.5 million respondents voted “Yes” on a Twitter poll asking users if he should step down.

Before his statement on Tuesday, Musk claimed that the poll results were skewed by bots and fake accounts. He also suggested that only paying Twitter Blue subscribers should get to vote in future polls related to Twitter policies.

He added on Sunday that there was no successor since “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive.”

Musk has been at the center of growing criticism ever since he took over Twitter. As the new chief, he fired the company’s top teams, dealt massive layoffs, drove away advertisers, reinstated controversial accounts, banned critical accounts, and introduced questionable policies.

Many users started jumping ship to other platforms, prompting Musk to introduce a policy banning posts with links to other social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon. Musk eventually scrapped the policy, saying that all major policy changes would be decided by a vote in the future.

Advertisers, investors, staff, and users have raised concerns about the platform’s future.

Tesla investors have expressed concern about whether Twitter has been distracting him from properly managing the electric vehicle business. The company’s stock price has plunged in recent weeks, with shares going down 35% since Musk took over Twitter.

In November, Musk suggested that he could file for bankruptcy to pay back the $13 billion he borrowed from banks to make the purchase. He has also lost his title as the world’s richest man as his personal fortune declined since the deal.

Musk admitted in a Delaware court hearing that he had too much on his plate. He said that he would decrease his time managing Twitter while looking for a replacement.

It’s still unclear whether Musk would honor his statement to step down as CEO, and how far his reach would remain even if he did.

Source: The Guardian