At the end of one of the busiest days, that is, his first two months at the helm of Twitter, Elon Musk, who bought the company in October for $44,000 million, wrote the following message on the web social last Sunday: “As the saying goes , be careful what you wish for, because you might get it”. Social network users wanted him to step down as CEO and they seem to have achieved just that, albeit with the man you never know. As he tweeted Tuesday night on the East Coast, his preferred time slot for launching information bombs, Musk is ready to step down. He will do so “as soon as he finds someone stupid enough to do the job.” “After that, I will only rule over the software and server teams. [tecnológicos]”, he added.
The tycoon made good on his promise to “accept the results,” a poll launched that Sunday among his more than 122 million followers who Musk spent in the World Cup final in Qatar and was accompanied by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kuschner . . In it, he asked her, “Should I step down as Twitter boss?” 17,503,391 accounts voted. 57% were in favor of his resignation.
I will step down as CEO as soon as I find someone stupid enough to take the job! After that, I will just lead the software and server teams.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 21, 2022
It all started in the morning with the platform’s recent change in usage policies, which announced this Sunday that its users will no longer be able to link to Facebook or Instagram owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s meta, as well as other platforms such as Mastodon or Truth Social. The ban drew so much criticism, including from supporters of the world’s second richest man, that Musk backed down and convened the famous poll.
Once the results were known, things reached an impasse. On Monday, he went to promote the achievements of his two other pretty girls: electric car maker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX. Also by threatening to change the polling system so only paid users can vote, and by airing the results of the series of leaks known as the Twitter files, a series of internal company documents about how he handled the scandals of Hunter Biden , son of President Joe Biden, as a result of his shady dealings abroad. Finally, on Tuesday, when some US media reported on his “active search” for a manager who succeeded him and he scoffed at this information, he spoke about the elephant in the room: He asked his clients if they wanted him to be the head of the Company or not, and they had been emphatic in their response.
One of Musk’s most used phrases during those first few weeks is “Vox populi, vox Dei.” The pedantic phrase in Latin (which translates as “The voice of the people is the voice of God”) has served him since his October 27 takeover on Twitter to launch the polls that yield far-reaching results for corporate governance decisions. The most notorious occasion was when he reinstated former US President Donald Trump, who was suspended for inciting violence during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 (he declined the invitation as he has his own social network, to promote truth).
He also asked when the journalist who was expelled a week ago and expelled without warning for reporting on an account called @ElonJet, which tracked the flights of his private jet, should return. The options were there: now or in seven days. People said there was no time to lose. This decision provoked an angry reaction worldwide from organizations such as the UN and the European Union, as well as from associations defending press freedom.
For someone like Musk, it’s hard to gauge the impact of stepping down as CEO of Twitter. The only thing that is clear is that he will remain the sole owner: he excluded the company from the market after the takeover. When you find someone dumb enough to do the job, it’s also not easy to guess how much freedom you’ll have in your performance. After getting into the tech, the new owner got rid of 70% of the 7,500 employees. The first to exit the exit door were the highest executives in the corporate hierarchy. The latest round of layoffs came last Friday.
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