Elon Musk Launches Poll on Whether He Should Step Down as Twitter CEO, Reports Reuters

Twitter CEO Elon Musk conducted a poll on the platform, asking users whether he should step down from his role. He stated that he would respect the outcome of the poll. As of a specific time, over 16 million users had voted, with 57.5% in favor of his resignation, just an hour before the poll closed.

Musk did not reveal any timeline for his potential departure if the poll indicated he should step down. In response to a Twitter user’s inquiry about finding a successor, he noted that there was “no successor” in place.

On that day, Musk was in Qatar attending the World Cup final between Argentina and France. He previously informed a Delaware court about his intention to reduce his involvement with Twitter and search for a new leader to manage the company.

Analyst Dan Ives from Wedbush commented that due to the ongoing challenges at Twitter, Musk should appoint a permanent CEO to alleviate issues affecting Tesla’s narrative.

The poll followed a policy change on Twitter that prohibited accounts created to exclusively promote other social media platforms, including content that shares links or usernames from competitors. Just before launching the poll, Musk expressed that future major policy changes would involve a user vote.

A few hours later, an official Twitter account initiated a separate poll to gauge whether there should be a policy against advertising other social media platforms on Twitter. This update affects content from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and others, while still permitting cross-content sharing.

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has recently invested in Nostr, expressed his confusion over the policy changes, questioning their rationale. Notably, TikTok was not included in the policy restrictions.

In the previous week, Twitter dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, which had been established in 2016 to advise on site management issues.

These policy changes are indicative of the tumultuous environment at Twitter after Musk acquired the platform, a time marked by reduced advertising revenue, significant layoffs, and fluctuating subscription fees for Twitter Blue.

As the poll results approached, Tesla’s share prices saw a rise of over 4% in pre-market trading. However, Tesla’s shares had already fallen by nearly 60% throughout the year, as investors expressed concerns about Musk’s divided focus and the global economic slowdown.

Musk’s ongoing management of Twitter has been a source of distraction for many Tesla shareholders, with some feeling that a departure from day-to-day Twitter duties would benefit the car manufacturer.

On the previous day, Musk reinstated the accounts of several journalists who had been suspended for reporting on public flight data concerning Musk’s private jet. This decision came after a Twitter poll indicated that a majority favored restoring those accounts. The initial suspensions faced backlash from government entities, advocacy groups, and journalism organizations, who raised concerns over press freedom implications.