Elon Musk asks Twitter if he should be CEO, but says there is ‘no successor’
Elon Musk is asking Twitter users if he should step down as the social media company’s CEO.
“Should I resign as Twitter boss? I’ll stick to the results of this poll,” Musk said tweeted on Sunday evening, with voting for 12 hours.
Musk had promised to find a new CEO for Twitter after taking office in November. Still, he remained closely involved in the social media platform’s decisions, announcing policy changes and new products.
Musk hinted Sunday night that he hadn’t been able to find anyone to take over. “No one wants the job that can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,” he said tweeted.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The social media company reportedly no longer has a communications department.
rule inversions
On Sunday night, Twitter also appeared to reverse a policy change from earlier in the day.
Earlier that day, the social media platform banned users from linking to its competitors such as Facebook, Instagram or Mastodon. “Going forward, Twitter will no longer allow free advertising for certain social media platforms on Twitter,” the company said in a statement.
The rule change led to a spate of account suspensions, including Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham.
Musk later apologized for the new rule and vowed to poll Twitter users before making policy changes in the future. Twitter restored Graham’s accounts and both deleted the web page describing the new rule and its announcement tweet.
Backtracking when sharing links to competitors is the second reversal for Elon Musk and Twitter in the past week. On Thursday night, Twitter suspended the accounts of several tech journalists who Musk claimed had revealed his real-time location, which the Twitter CEO said posed a security threat. Media organizations and governments have criticized the decision, with the United Nations warning that Musk and Twitter have set “a dangerous precedent.”
Musk later polled Twitter users asking when he should unban accounts suspended for “doxxing.” After a majority of surveyed users said Twitter should lift the bans immediately, social enterprise Emdia restored several of the banned accounts (although some journalists, like the The Washington Post Drew Harwell are still suspended).
Musk has frequently used Twitter polls to explore potential policy changes on the platform. The Twitter CEO has previously launched polls to ask if the social media company should offer a “general amnesty” for suspended accounts and reinstate former US President Donald Trump’s account.
‘Stay in queue’
Musk’s previous Twitter polls have attracted millions of votes, and his Sunday night poll was no exception. As of 3:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and three hours before closing, the poll has attracted 14.7 million votes.
Twitter users urged others to “stay in line,” citing the joint advice from US campaigns on Election Day, which reminded voters to cast their ballots even after polling stations have closed, as long as they stand in line stay.
Even if Musk remains CEO, Twitter faces several problems. Advertisers have exited Twitter amid the chaos of Musk’s takeover, leading to a drop in revenue. The social media company is also being hit with $1 billion in annual interest payments after Musk borrowed $13 billion to fund its acquisition.
Twitter “has been on the fast track to bankruptcy since May,” Musk said tweeted on Sunday evening.
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