Elon Musk Posts Twitter Poll Asking If He Should Step Down As CEO

Elon Musk posted a poll on Sunday asking Twitter users if he should step down as CEO of the social media company, and said he would adhere to the result.

Musk appointed himself CEO less than two months ago, immediately after he finalized his $44 billion takeover of Twitter at the end of October. He promptly dissolved its board of directors and laid off roughly half the company’s staff. 

“Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll,” he tweeted Sunday evening, giving users the option to vote “Yes” or “No.”

Within two hours, more than 5.8 million users had voted, with 57.8% voting yes and 42.2% voting no. 

Following Musk’s decision to fire top executives and appoint himself CEO in October, Bloomberg reported that the billionaire likely planned to serve in the role on an interim basis.

In the replies to the tweet, Musk said he had not selected a replacement, after a user suggested he had already chosen one.

“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,” Musk tweeted.

The move is in keeping with Musk’s erratic leadership of the company so far. He has repeatedly made policy decisions on apparent personal whims, including in recent days when he suddenly suspended several prominent tech journalists who had reported on him.

Musk claimed they had doxxed him by posting links to a site that tracks his flights. 

Last month, he restored the Twitter accounts of multiple banned users without explanation, after initially pledging to form a content moderation council to make decisions on reactivating suspended accounts. He reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account after posting a yes or no poll on whether he should do so.