Frankfurt Is Elon Musk stepping down as Twitter boss? The owner of the spa news service asked this question to the general public a few days ago. The poll on Twitter ended unequivocally: 57 percent of users said Musk should go. The billionaire had announced that he would bow to the decision – but is now doing it rather half-heartedly. And so the question remains.
Musk tweeted on Tuesday night that he would step down if he found someone “dumb enough” to take over. He also wants to continue leading the software and server teams. Musk took more than 38 hours to respond after the poll was completed – and indicated he thought the result was “rigged.” Musk called a suggestion by controversial Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom to repeat the survey because it was distorted by fake accounts “interesting”.
This may be related to the fact that there is currently little evidence that Musk will quickly find a suitable successor. According to media reports, Musk’s search for a new boss was already underway before the vote.
Musk tweeted on Sunday: “Nobody wants the job that can really keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” Either way, his influence on Twitter remains high — after all, he owns the network. The billionaire took over Twitter at the end of October and made himself CEO. in the past few weeks, however, he has openly struggled with his new role.
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Since Musk’s takeover, around 5,000 of Twitter’s once 7,500 employees have left, most involuntarily. Musk had declared that he would focus on Twitter’s technology and, among other things, dissolved an advisory committee on preventing hate speech. Many of his decisions surprised the users and caused chaos, some Musk had to take back within a very short time.
The biggest problem: Musk, who is fundamentally against an advertising-financed revenue model, scared off numerous advertisers – the most important source of income. On Wednesday night, he said Twitter was on track to post negative cash flow of $3 billion.
Tesla shareholders hope for the end of the Twitter adventure
Musk’s previous core company, the listed electric car manufacturer Tesla, is now also suffering from the zigzag course on Twitter. Musk also acts as CEO here, but withdrew numerous employees, for example from the important Autopilot project, to help out on Twitter. He also had to sell Tesla stock to fund the Twitter acquisition. He sold $3.58 billion worth of stock last week.
All of this weighs heavily on Tesla. On Tuesday, shares fell about eight percent to a two-year low. For the first time since 2020, a representative of the fossil fuel economy in the form of the oil company Exxon Mobil was worth more than the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Since the Twitter takeover at the end of October alone, shares have fallen by more than 60 percent. Key shareholders have publicly complained that Musk’s focus is too much on the social network and that he’s dropping out as Tesla CEO. To make matters worse, the billionaire’s often controversial statements have already damaged Tesla’s image, at least in Germany.
>> Read also: US agency FTC intensifies examination of Twitter
Many investors on Wall Street reacted with interest in buying on Wednesday morning after Musk’s announcement that he wanted to step down as Twitter CEO. After the stock market opened, Tesla shares were up around one percent.
But doubts remain as to whether Musk will actually cede control of Twitter to a new CEO. “If you take the job, you’re not the boss of anything. You’re Musk’s servant,” said Erik Gordon of the Michigan School of Business.
In the course of the takeover, numerous managers had brought themselves up in conversation to run Twitter, including tech investor Jason Calacanis. Axel Springer boss Mathias Döpfner also suggested that his media company could run Twitter. Musk turned down the advances.
Popular polls
In the past few weeks, the situation on Twitter has escalated again. For example, Musk – despite his repeatedly emphasized commitment to freedom of speech – blocked an account for tracking his private jet and at times the accounts of some US journalists.
His plan to no longer allow users to advertise their presence on certain competing platforms triggered further anger. These explicitly include Facebook, Instagram or Mastodon. Musk immediately canceled this change to the terms and conditions and recently promised to put major changes to the guidelines to the vote in advance.
Elon Musk seeks successor for CEO posts at Twitter
The vote on his resignation as head of Twitter is not the first poll that Musk has conducted on the Internet platform. Last year, for example, he had a Twitter vote oblige him to sell a tenth of his Tesla shares. In November, he had a vote on whether former US President Donald Trump could work on the short message service again.
Musk also published on Wednesday night a new poll. For a change, it wasn’t about Twitter, but about a $1.7 billion bill passed by the US Congress.
With agency material.
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