Elon Musk to Quit as Twitter CEO When He Finds a Replacement

Elon Musk said on Wednesday he will resign as Twitter’s chief executive officer when he finds someone “foolish enough to take the job”.

The billionaire promised earlier to abide by the result of a Twitter poll which saw 57.5% of users vote “yes” to him quitting the role.

Even when Musk finds a new person to head Twitter, he will still be the owner and ultimate decision-maker at the company. He says he will still run the software and server teams after his replacement is found.

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

This was the first time the multibillionaire has responded to the poll launched on Sunday asking if he should resign. Finding someone to take over the social media platform may be a challenge, according to Musk.

“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

In the past Musk has obeyed Twitter polls. He is fond of quoting the Latin phrase vox populi, vox dei which roughly means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.

In response to a tweet saying Twitter Blue subscribers “should be the only ones that can vote in policy-related polls. We actually have skin in the game”, Musk said: “Good point, Twitter will make that change.”

Twitter’s paid-for verification feature was rolled out for a second time last week after its launch was paused. The service costs $8 per month, or $11 for people using the Twitter app on Apple devices, and gives subscribers a “blue tick”.

Elon Musk’s controversial tenure as Twitter CEO

Since buying Twitter for $44 billion and taking over as CEO in late October, Musk has journeyed from one controversy to the next.

The latest controversy erupted when he suspended the accounts belonging to several prominent journalists covering the company’s owner, Elon Musk, a day after he vowed to sue the owner of a profile that tracks his jet.

Reporters for The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post were among those who found themselves locked out of their accounts.

Musk, who was briefly dethroned as the world’s richest man recently, said in a tweet that “criticising me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not”.

He added that accounts engaged in doxxing, which refers to the release of private information about individuals online, receive a temporary seven-day suspension.