Elon Musk releases a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as CEO

Elon Musk released a poll on Sunday asking Twitter users whether he should step down as the social media company’s CEO and said he would stand by the result.

Musk named himself CEO less than two months ago, immediately after completing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late October. He promptly dissolved the board of directors and laid off about half of the company’s workforce.

“Should I resign as Twitter boss? I will abide by the results of this poll,” he tweeted Sunday night, 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.

Should I step down as Twitter boss? I will stick to the results of this poll.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022

Following Musk’s decision to fire top executives and appoint himself CEO, Bloomberg reported in October that the billionaire likely plans to step into the role on a temporary basis.

In responses to the tweet, Musk said he hadn’t picked a replacement after a user suggested he’d already picked one.

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

The move is consistent with Musk’s past erratic leadership of the company. He has repeatedly made policy decisions on what appear to be personal whims, including in recent days when he suddenly suspended several prominent tech journalists who had covered him.

Musk claimed they dozed him by posting links to a website that tracks his flights.

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