Elon Musk apparently respects the decision of Twitter users. Musk tweeted on Tuesday that he would step down as head of Twitter once he finds a suitable replacement. That follows from a poll by the Twitter owner posted on Sunday in which he asked users if he should step down as head of Twitter. More than 57% voted for Musk to step down.
“I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” Musk tweeted to his 112.5 million followers on Tuesday. “After that, I will just lead the software and server teams.”
I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will only lead the software and server teams.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 21, 2022
More than 17.5 million people voted in Musk’s poll. Twitter as a whole had about 238 million daily users at the end of June.
The billionaire, who is also the head of automaker Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX, has a history of reversing decisions soon after they were announced or implemented.
The abrupt statement of intent to resign from the top job at the beleaguered social network comes nearly two months after Musk’s takeover. Under his leadership, Twitter has faced massive layoffs, lawsuits from former employees, reduced advertiser spending, abrupt policy changes and international outcry after it suspended journalists and other high-profile users. Before Musk closed the deal to buy Twitter in October, he reportedly only planned to be CEO for a few months before handing over the reins.
Musk’s time as head of Twitter has so far been interrupted by new policies that have caused a backlash from the platform’s users and advertisers. Twitter in October recently launched a feature which allowed users to pay $8 to earn a “blue check” verification. It was quickly exploited by trolls, who set up accounts posing as companies like Nintendo and Coke. In perhaps the most famous example, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly saw its stock plummet after a fake account tweeted, “We’re excited to announce that insulin is now free.”
He followed that up last week suspend accounts for reporters from publications that had critically reported on his leadership, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and CNN. These were reinstated after Musk surveyed users, nearly 59% of whom voted for the immediate reversal of the suspensions.
Twitter also suspended more than two dozen accounts on the site that used publicly available flight information to track the location of private jets. Musk accused the account of providing “murder coordinates” by tracking the movements of his private jet and linked it to an alleged stalking incident that took place in Los Angeles. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that police had not established a connection.
After a series of dramatic policy changes, for which Musk appeared to apologize on Sunday, he vowed there would be a vote for all major changes moving forward.
