In . – 12.19.2022 20:35 (act. 12.19.2022 20:35)
More than 57 percent voted for Musk to resign as “Head of Twitter”. ©Portal/Mike Blake (icon image)
Elona Musk released a poll over the weekend. The majority voted for her resignation as “Head of Twitter”. However, the result is not representative.
Elon Musk’s days as CEO of Twitter may be numbered – if the multibillionaire sticks to the results of a survey he himself released on Sunday night. 17.5 million users voted. And the result was clear: 57.5% voted for Musk’s resignation as “Head of Twitter”. 42.5 percent voted for the 51-year-old to remain as chief executive.
Majority Voted Musk to Resign as “Head of Twitter”
The result of the poll is not representative. Elon Musk alone has more than 122 million followers on the platform. In comparison, 17.5 million votes is not a lot. In principle, the survey was open to all members of the platform, but only for twelve hours. Musk had already assured that he would stick to the result of the vote. “As the saying goes, ‘Be careful what you wish for, it might come true’.”
There are many indications that Musk made the decision to step down from day-to-day Twitter operations ahead of the vote. The multibillionaire is known for launching surveys to justify decisions already made. Most famously, Musk has asked on Twitter in the past if he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares. Among other things, this got him into trouble with Tesla investors, who felt ripped off. Documents released later showed that Musk had long ago negotiated a plan to sell the shares.
Applause among Tesla investors
The current result of the vote on the possible resignation as “Head of Twitter” has set off a storm of jubilation among Tesla investors on the stock exchange. The electric car maker’s share price rose four percent ahead of the market. Previously, big investors like Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, have expressed concern that Musk was getting too distracted by his Twitter activities and not properly fulfilling his position as head of Tesla. Tesla shares have lost about half of their more than $1 trillion valuation since spring.
October saw Musk take over
Elon Musk took over the short messaging service in October for $44 billion. According to experts, the price was too high because Twitter has so far made almost no profit and has lagged behind other social networks like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok in terms of reach. $27 billion of the purchase price came from Musk himself, who had to sell Tesla shares on a massive scale and is therefore no longer the richest man in the world.
$13 billion of the purchase price was borne by Twitter as bank debt, with the remainder contributed by investors such as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Qatar Holding and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud. After the negative headlines of the past few weeks and the associated drop in advertising revenue, Twitter’s investors and banks now have to fear for their money.
Musk laid off about half of the workforce
To save costs, Musk laid off about half of the workforce immediately after taking office. In addition, several employees voluntarily left the company because they did not agree with Musk’s course. Controversial decisions included the reactivation of former US President Donald Trump’s suspended account, which was suspended after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington in January 2021.
Some of the people who may be venturing back onto Twitter include notorious neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, whose anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and hate speech against dissidents were deemed so dangerous by several courts that they forced him to pay millions of dollars to his victims. . dollars doomed.
Musk had journalists’ accounts blocked
On the other hand, Musk used his new power over Twitter to suppress publicly available information about the location of his private jet on the platform. The @ElonJet account has been blocked. In addition, Musk had the accounts of several journalists who reported on the controversy blocked. After a firestorm of outrage, Musk reactivated most of the journalists’ accounts.
Is Musk stepping down as head of Twitter?
If Musk does indeed retire as head of Twitter, there are already a few candidates who could become the new “Head of Twitter”. Investor Jason Calacanis (51) is the favorite. When Musk asked him during negotiations if he would be willing to be his strategic advisor if the Twitter deal went through, Calacanis pledged his loyalty in a text message: “Board member, advisor, whatever… You has my sword,” he wrote to Calacanis. “Put me in the game, Coach! CEO of Twitter is my dream job.”
But even if Musk left his confidant Calacanis or right-wing venture capitalist David Sacks as CEO of Twitter, that wouldn’t count as a resignation. Musk will remain majority owner of the social network, which still gives him tremendous control over the direction of Twitter’s content.