Update (0620ET):
Tesla shares gained nearly 5% in premarket trading after CEO Elon Musk polled Twitter users over whether he should “step down as head of Twitter.”
With polling closed, and more than 17.5 million votes, the results stand at 57.5% answered “Yes” and 43.5% “No.”
“Musk exiting Twitter could benefit Tesla, which has slumped 57% this year amid concerns that his chaotic takeover of Twitter has distracted him from Tesla,” Bloomberg said.
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Elon Musk, perhaps finally fed up with micromanaging Twitter or just really drunk after partying with Qatari royals (and Jared) after today’s terrific World Cup Final…
… has asked Twitter users and his 122 million followers whether he should step down as head of the social media site and pledged that he would abide by the result of the 12 hour unscientific poll. Four hours into the vote, with some 9 million votes cast, 56.7% of those polled said Musk should, in fact, stand down. It wasn’t clear what percentage of bots of mailed in ballots had been cast.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
Musk prefaced the vote by tweeting that “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.”
Subsequently, in response to tweeted comments that Musk should “hire someone as Twitter CEO… that way when things go wrong you can blame that person, but you still ultimate control as the owner”, the billionaire responded that “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”
The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
Musk also clarified to prospective replacements that any new CEO “must like pain a lot. One catch: you have to invest your life savings in Twitter and it has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May. Still want the job?”
You must like pain a lot. One catch: you have to invest your life savings in Twitter and it has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May. Still want the job?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
Musk then stated that the whole exercise is a Catch 22 as “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” Which then begs the question how Musk will abide by a poll that seeks his replacement if there is “no successor” in mind.
No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
He then doubled down by paraphrasing Jack Handey and, of course, Gladiator:
Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
Whether Musk was drunk or not when he sent out the tweet (early am Qatari time), the outcome as some cynics have noted, is unlikely to have any material impact on what happens at twitter.
Let me predict the consequences of this poll:
If „yes“, Elon will be CEO for a few months longer until he finds a devoted successor.
If „no“, Elon will be CEO for a few months longer until he finds a devoted successor.
— Zsolt Wilhelm (@ZsoltWilhelm) December 18, 2022
Musk’s pledge to hold votes on policy changes came after Twitter on Sunday announced it will remove accounts “created solely” to promote other social media platforms. Accounts promoting rivals and containing links to sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon will be taken down, the company said. A few hours later the tweet revealing that policy change was deleted.
These tweets appear to have been deleted. pic.twitter.com/8C7TnvuKmb
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) December 19, 2022
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/19/2022 – 08:10
