Elon Musk says he will step down as Twitter CEO, but will not leave company

Elon Musk said on Tuesday he will step down as chief executive officer of Twitter “as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job,” but will not leave the company he bought entirely.

In a tweet, the billionaire said he will stay on to “just run the software & servers teams” after a replacement CEO is named.

Musk made the comment in reply to a Twitter poll he launched on Sunday that asked users whether he should step down as head of Twitter. He added he would “abide by the results of this poll.”

Some 57.5 per cent of the more than 17.5 million votes cast were in favour of Musk handing over the reins.

After the poll closed, Musk appeared to support suggestions from users that he redo the poll to hear only from users verified through Twitter Blue, the platform’s $8-per-month subscription service.

That new poll has yet to emerge, but he did say future polls he holds on policy changes will only allow paid subscribers to participate.

There was no immediate indication Tuesday that he would end his ownership of the social media platform.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s tenure at the helm of Twitter has been filled with controversy since his US$44-billion deal to purchase the company closed in October.

2:25 Twitter faces backlash over suspension of several journalists

The past week has seen Twitter ban journalists and other accounts who cover Musk in what he claimed was a crackdown on those sharing data about his location.

Over the weekend, Twitter also announced a ban on users promoting their accounts on competing social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.

In a tweet after launching the poll on Sunday, Musk said to “be careful what you wish, as you might get it.”

It is not yet clear who will replace Musk as CEO. He also wrote on Sunday that “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive.”

More to come…