New York
CNN
—
Twitter’s mercurial new boss could leave after less than two months on the job if Twitter polls turn against him.
Elon Musk tweeted polling People were asked Sunday night to vote on whether he should step down as Twitter CEO. Musk said he would abide by the results of the polls.
As of Sunday night, Yes was winning 58 percent to 42 percent.
In subsequent tweets, Musk hinted that he was serious about leaving and vaguely threatened Twitter’s future if he was voted down.
“As the saying goes, be careful what you want, if you can get it,” Musk said. tweets.
Since taking over as CEO in late October after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, Musk has weathered controversy after controversy.
Short but not complete recap:
- Musk immediately fired several executives and fired about half of Twitter’s workforce.
- He then issued an ultimatum to the remaining staff, asking them to either do “extremely hard” work or leave — and another 1,000 or so left.
- As part of an ongoing “Twitter profile,” Musk fired employees who spoke out against him and publicly named and shamed former employees who were involved in difficult moderation discussions.
- Musk also started, stopped and started again a modified verification system that cost $8 a blue checkmark that initially led to widespread account spoofing.
- Musk has often changed Twitter’s rules through executive orders without notice, banning people who violated the new rules — including several tech journalists and an account that tracked his planes. Musk has said on Twitter that allowing the ElonJet account to remain on Twitter demonstrates his commitment to free speech on the platform.
- Meanwhile, Musk has become deeply embroiled in the culture wars, allowing some of the platform’s permanently banned accounts to be reactivated, including those of former President Donald Trump and many involved in misinformation, conspiracy theories or hate speech.
Meanwhile, brands have been removing their Twitter ads left and right. Musk has often said that Twitter’s financial situation is dire.
On Sunday, after Lex Fridman, an artificial intelligence researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he would take on the CEO role, Musk hinted in a reply to a tweet that he wasn’t entirely happy with his new job.
“You must love pain,” Musk tweeted, noting that the company “has been on the fast track to bankruptcy since May.”
Musk, however, denied that he had ideas for a new CEO.
“No one wants the job that will actually keep Twitter alive. No successor,” Musk tweeted. “The problem is not finding a CEO, the problem is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”