The question of whether or not Elon Musk will continue to serve as CEO of Twitter has been left unanswered.
On Sunday, the bιllιonaire had posted a question to Twitter asking his followers their opinion on whether or not he should step down as the leader of the social media platform. In a “poll” that took place on Twitter and lasted for 12 hours before it was closed on Monday, more than 17 million people participated and provided a clear verdict: 57.5 percent of respondents said he should step down.
Mr. Musk had previously stated that he would honor the decision reached by the majority of voters. However, Mr. Musk’s Twitter account remained silent for a considerable amount of time after the polls had ended.
If Mr. Musk follows through with his plans, the firm that he purchased in late October for a total of $44 bιllιon will soon have new leadership. The stormy weeks that followed were highlighted by enormous layoffs at the corporation, plummeting advertising sales, executive resignations, and the suspension of many high-profile user accounts for infractions of a newly formed policy. All of these events had place since then.
Twitter first announced a policy on Sunday that would ban users from sharing links and user names from other social sites, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. However, it appears that Twitter has now changed its mind about the policy and no longer implements it.
However, for some people, including some who had previously supported Mr. Musk, the hectic weekend served as a tipping point.
Since Mr. Musk acquired Twitter in late October, the company has faced mass layoffs and executive resignations.Credit…Chris Delmas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Paul Graham, one of the founders of the start-up accelerator Y Combinator, said on Twitter on Sunday that Mr. Musk’s most recent activities with Twitter were “the last straw.” Mr. Graham had previously been in favor of Mr. Musk’s takeover, but on Sunday he published the following statement: “I give up. On my website, you’ll discover a link that takes you to my new profile on Mastodon. His access to the account was temporarily revoked.
Twitter suspended approximately two dozen accounts that tracked the locations of private planes last week, including one that followed Mr. Musk’s private jet. The decision was justified by a new policy that banned accounts if they shared another person’s “live location.” One of the accounts that was suspended tracked the location of Mr. Musk’s private jet. Last week, the accounts of some journalists working for The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and other outlets were also suspended, seemingly under the same policy. These accounts were later reinstated after Mr. Musk asked users if the journalists should be allowed to return to the platform and if they should be allowed back on the platform. In a survey conducted on Twitter with 3.7 million participants, 59% of respondents said they agreed.
After polling Twitter users on whether he should continue leading the company, Mr. Musk responded with the following statement in another tweet: “No one wants the position who can genuinely keep Twitter alive.” There is no one who could take over.”
There is evidence that Mr. Musk’s ownership of Twitter and his interest on the platform are causing interference with his other business endeavors. The value of Tesla has significantly decreased since since Mr. Musk purchased Twitter. On October 27, the day that Mr. Musk successfully finalized the acquisition of Twitter, the share price of the automobile firm was $225. The price of a share of Tesla at the market close on Friday was $150.
Mr. Musk said one week ago that he had sold another $3.6 bιllιon worth of Tesla stock. This year, Mr. Musk has now sold a total of $23 bιllιon worth of Tesla stock, the majority of which occurred after he made a commitment in April to refrain from selling shares in order to fund the acquisition of Twitter.
“Instead of focusing on the golden child, attention was focused on Twitter.” Wedbush Securities analysts Daniel Ives and John Katsingris wrote in a note that was published shortly before the Twitter vote closed that “Tesla has been another big issue for investors and likely is behind this poll result with many Musk loyalists wanting him to leave as C.E.O. of Twitter.” The note was published shortly before the Twitter vote was closed.
They went on to say that if Mr. Musk quit Twitter, it would be “a major step forward.” The bιllιonaire would have finally realized that there has been “growing frustration around this Twitter nightmare that grows worse by the day,” they said, adding that Mr. Musk’s resignation from Twitter would be “a major step forward.”
At the close of trading on Monday, Tesla’s share price was slightly around $150, remaining relatively stable from the day’s opening price.