Should Elon Musk Step Down as Head of Twitter?

On Sunday evening, Musk posted a public Twitter poll to ask users if he should step down as the head of the platform. "Should I step down as head of Twitter?," he asked, noting. "I will abide by the results of this poll."

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After 17,502,391 votes cast in a 24-hour period, the results were clear: the majority of respondents — 57.5% to be exact — would like to see Musk step down. By comparison, only 42.5% voted "No" to Musk stepping down.

To Musk's credit, the post is still live on his page and he has not deleted it despite the results. The embattled CEO has followed up with cryptic messages warning users to be careful what they wish for, writing, "As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it."

Myspace co-founder Tom Anderson was notably among those who replied to Musk's question of stepping down from Twitter, writing, "Depends who you get to run it ! 🤔"

The poll follows months of chaos at Twitter since Musk's $44 billion takeover of the platform in October — starting with spikes in hate speech and mass layoffs via email and more recently leading to the de-platforming of journalists who reported on Musk's activities.

Appearing on court in November due to an unrelated case about his Tesla compensation, Musk stated that he planned to spend less time at Twitter, saying, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time."

Some believe Musk's poll suggested that he had found a replacement for himself as CEO. But over the weekend, he responded to a tweet explaining that there was no viable successor yet. "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote.

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