Billionaire Elon Musk confirmed Tuesday he’ll step down as Twitter CEO once he finds a foolish enough successor. He added he’ll still lead the platform’s software and servers teams.
“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,” Musk wrote on Twitter.
The $44 billion Twitter takeover stirred chaos and controversy, especially among those who are working for Elon Musk. Some investors doubt if he can manage Tesla Inc, which he oversees in production and engineering.
This is the first time Musk has addressed resigning as Twitter’s top executive. He’d launched a poll on Sunday. 17.5 million people voted, with 57.5% saying “yes”. Musk said he’d honor the results. Musk gave no timeline of when he’ll step down and no replacement was named.
The poll, according to Reuters, followed Twitter’s revised privacy policy, and suspensions and reinstatements of journalists’ accounts that drew criticism across Europe. Wall Street had called for Musk to step down and even Tesla supporters are questioning his Twitter focus.
Musk himself said he has too many responsibilities. He said Sunday there’s no candidate, and “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive.”
