Following Musk’s decision to propose a poll stating “Should I step down as head of Twitter?” Musk concluded by saying “I will abide by the results of this poll.”
Musk would go on to lose the poll that garnered over 17 million total votes by a margin of 57.5% to 42.5%.
As a result, it appears that Musk will be stepping down from his role as Twitter CEO.
However, it’s unlikely that the man who just closed on a $44 billion deal less than two months ago will be cleaning his hands of Twitter and simply moving on. Leaving many to wonder, what will Elon do?
After his poll, Musk would go on to Tweet:
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
These Tweets don’t appear to be the Tweets of someone walking away entirely, however, there has been no clear indication of what Musk’s next steps will be. Some have speculated that while he will no longer be the CEO of Twitter, he may choose to be the head of the board of Twitter or take on another leadership role where he will still have influence over the platform.
Axios reports that these factors may have played into Musk’s decision:
- Tesla’s stock has taken a massive hit in response to Musk’s Twitter takeover. Tesla shares shot up nearly 5% in premarket trading Monday when the poll closed.
- Musk has had to liquidate billions of dollars in Tesla stock to finance his Twitter deal and to keep the company afloat. With advertisers fleeing the platform, he has begun asking investors for more money.
- As of last week, Musk is no longer the richest man in the world.
Amid controversy surrounding Musk’s time spent as the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter, his stockholders may be more comfortable if he takes on a different role at Twitter.
