Users of Twitter Inc. voted in favor of Elon Musk stepping up to the side of his role at the behest of the social network in a survey that he ensured he will respect. This is a strong rejection of his role less than two months after he took over.
Around 58% of the 17.5 million votes were in favor of Musk stepping down.
If Musk respects the result, it would mark the end of 53 chaotic days, which included the stripping of top executives, the cut around half of the jobs and the alienation of advertisers.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., have devoted much of his time since acquiring Twitter on October 27 to the social network, raising criticism for his abrupt policy changes and the neglect of his other businesses. Tesla‘s shares, his most valuable stake, have fallen by about a third since the acquisition.
It is not the first time that Musk has submitted important business decisions to Twitter users. He carried out a survey among his followers about the advisability of restoring Donald Trump‘s Twitter account, and allowed it the following day.
There is no clear substitute on Twitter, since almost all high-ranking executives have been fired or resigned in recent months. Musk added in later tweets that “No one wants the job that really can keep Twitter alive. There is no successor” and “it has been on the fast track to bankruptcy since May”.
The threat that Twitter could get into financial difficulties has been constant during Musk’s term, who in his first speech to Twitter employees in November said that the breakup was a possibility if it did not attempt to generate more staff. The company has a debt of nearly US$13 billion that is now in the hands of seven Wall Street banks that have been unable to transfer it to investors.
No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
Musk had previously indicated that he would only be at the head of Twitter for a limited time to complete the organizational review that he believed it needed to prosper, and he had complained of “too much work” and that he had to sleep in the Twitter workshop in San Francisco while applying its radical changes.
Tesla’s shares rose 4.8% in operations prior to the opening of the US market. The shares of the automaker have dropped by 57% this year due to concerns that the chaotic acquisition of Twitter has distracted Musk from the company that propelled him to become the richest person in the world, a title he lost last week in favor of the titan of luxury Bernard Arnault.
Read more at Bloomberg.com