Elon Musk has reportedly begun looking for someone to succeed him as Twitter CEO.
That’s according to a report Tuesday (Dec. 20) by CNBC, citing sources who say the search began before the multibillionaire polled Twitter users on Sunday on whether he should step down as chief executive. (They voted Yes by an almost 60% margin.)
Musk said last month he planned to find a new person to run Twitter after finishing an organizational restructuring of the social media platform.
“There’s an initial burst of activity needed post-acquisition to reorganize the company,” Musk said while testifying in a Delaware court during a trial related to his pay package at Tesla. “But then I expect to reduce my time at Twitter.”
Musk took ownership of Twitter on Oct. 27 and set about undertaking massive leadership changes and companywide layoffs. On Halloween, he dissolved Twitter’s nine-member board of directors, becoming the company’s sole director.
The weeks since have been tumultuous for Twitter, with advertisers fleeing the platform, hate speech reportedly on the rise, and many banned accounts reinstated.
Sunday (Dec. 18) saw the company institute – and later rescind – a new policy blocking accounts that promote other social media sites.
“We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms,” the company’s Twitter support account wrote. “However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.”
Later that day, Musk tweeted his poll: “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.”
More than 17 million people voted in the poll, 57.5% of them choosing the yes option. So far, Musk has not appeared to acknowledge the vote results.
But soon after asking the question, he tweeted: “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.”
When another Twitter user suggested Musk had a replacement lined up – and would transition into the role of “Twitter chairman” – the CEO quickly rejected that idea.
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive,” he wrote. “There is no successor.”
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