When he finds someone “foolish enough to take the position,” according to Elon Musk, he will step down as Twitter’s CEO.
Prior to this, the billionaire made a commitment to follow the outcome of a Twitter poll in which 57.5% of respondents favored his leaving the position.
He claims that even once a replacement is found, he will continue to lead the software and servers teams.
The platform’s modifications since his takeover have drawn a lot of flak.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 21, 2022
About half of the company’s employees have been let go since Mr. Musk acquired it in October. He also tried to push out Twitter’s for-pay verification service before pausing it. Last week, the feature was reintroduced.
The way he moderates content has also drawn criticism from civil rights organizations, which accuse him of taking actions that will encourage hate speech and false information.
The European Union and United Nations chastised Elon Musk on Friday for Twitter’s decision to suspend some journalists who cover the social media company.
While the EU threatened Twitter with sanctions, the UN declared that media freedom was “not a toy.”
The multibillionaire hasn’t previously commented on the poll that was released on Sunday asking if he should step down. It might be difficult to find someone to take over the social networking site, according to Mr. Musk. Jack Dorsey, another co-founder of Twitter, has been rumored to return and take over as CEO. He gave up his position as CEO in November 2021.
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive,” he tweeted following the poll.
No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
Sheryl Sandberg, the former Chief of Facebook, Sriram Krishnan, an engineer and Mr. Musk’s close friend, and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump and a former US presidential adviser, are a few other names that have been floated as potential successors.
Mr. Musk has complied with Twitter polls in the past. Vox populi, vox dei, which roughly translates as “the voice of the people is the voice of God,” is a Latin expression he frequently uses.
In reaction to a tweet that claimed there were Twitter Blue subscribers “should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls. We actually have skin in the game”, Mr Musk said: “Good point, Twitter will make that change.”
Last Monday, the paid-for verification service on Twitter resumed rollout after a brief break. Subscribers receive a “blue tick” and pay $8 a month, or $11 if they use the Twitter app on an Apple device.
A blue tick was previously used as a free symbol of authenticity.
Investors have been urging Mr. Musk to step down as CEO of the social media site for weeks, claiming that he has been diverted from effectively managing Tesla.
Over the past year, shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer have fallen more than 65%.
In order to finance his purchase, Mr. Musk sold shares of Tesla for billions of dollars, which aided in the share price decline.
After Mr. Musk’s tweet on Tuesday, Dan Ives of the investment company Wedbush Securities tweeted, “Finally a good step in the right direction to end this painful nightmare situation for Tesla investors.”
