Musk Has Stepped Down As Twitter CEO After Selecting An Heir

Elon Musk claims that he has chosen the new Twitter CEO and that he is stepping down. Musk wrote on Twitter on Thursday that he is happy to announce, X/Twitter has a new CEO who will begin in six weeks.

The term “X” alludes to both the newly created legal entity that encompasses Twitter and Musk’s plans to turn Twitter into a “super app.” He did not name the new CEO, although a popular newspaper claimed that Linda Yaccarino, the head of advertising for NBCUniversal, is in discussions to lead Twitter.

Yaccarino, who started working for NBCUniversal twelve years ago, left her role on Friday. On Monday, she was supposed to deliver a sales pitch to the advertising sector.

She is a former Trump administration nominee who is well-known in the advertising industry and would offer connections to Twitter, which has lost sponsors since Musk purchased the social media network six months ago. Daniel Ives said this recruit would fit perfectly with Twitter’s strategy and revenue generation in the future.

Since last year, Wall Street has been calling for Mr. Musk to step down. Even Tesla Inc has wondered whether his attention to Twitter has diverted him from effectively directing the electric car enterprise, where he is essential to product development and engineering.

Musk has presided over large layoffs, relaxed content regulation, and altered the blue-check verification mechanism throughout his tenure.”It’s a train wreck sometimes,” Musk said of Twitter’s operations.

Yaccarino stated at an AdAge event in November that she would not gamble against Musk. She suggested that people should spare him a minute.

He announced in December that he was seeking a replacement at Twitter. Twitter users overwhelmingly supported his resignation in a poll sponsored by the billionaire in December 2022. It was initially uncertain if Musk would accept the findings when he and his admirers implied, without providing evidence, that the outcomes of his poll had been hijacked by bots.

Musk will continue to make decisions even when his successor takes over. Musk announced on Thursday that he will become executive director and chief technological officer while continuing to supervise products and software.

Musk indicated from the beginning that he did not intend to stay at the leadership of Twitter and that minimizing the duration of his commitment was always his intention. “There’s a startling amount of work required post-acquisition to reorganize the company,” Musk stated in November during an experiment over his salary at Tesla. He said that he would find another person to manage Twitter over time.”

Since last year, Wall Street has been calling for Mr. Musk to step down. Even Tesla Inc has wondered whether his attention to Twitter has diverted him from effectively directing the electric car enterprise, where he is essential to product development and engineering.

As is typically the scenario with Musk, concerns linger about the significance of his statement. Musk revealed to the BBC in April that his pet dog was his replacement as Twitter CEO.

Musk has not responded to calls for comment. Twitter’s press office replied to emails with the typical auto-reply feces emoji.

Since Musk took control of Twitter, almost 90% of its staff have been dismissed or resigned. He has burdened the organization with debt, at the same time as advertising left in droves.

Musk has mentioned the risk of bankruptcy if Twitter’s financial situation does not improve. Musk has ruled the troubled site sporadically, making policy choices that affect the entire platform on the spur of the moment.

Even proposing a dizzying assortment of changes, such as depriving individuals of “verified” blue tick marks and allowing anybody to buy a “verified” badge. Notably, he reopened former President Trump’s account, which was previously “permanently suspended” for encouraging violence following the Capitol siege on January 6.

He has brought back right-wing followers and other controversial people who had previously been removed for breaking standards against bullying and violent conduct.

Musk has also concentrated on reviving Twitter’s subscription model to increase its advertising revenue. The newly formed subscription service enables users to obtain the platform’s distinctive blue checkmark, which indicates account verification, for $8 per month, for a total of $96 per year.

Twitter is used to verify the identities of prominent individuals, politicians, writers, and media professionals on a case-by-case basis to ensure their legitimacy and prevent impersonation.

It is uncertain whether Musk’s successor is going to carry out the task of loosening content control regulations and attempting to develop new revenue streams for the faltering network. The majority of Musk’s fortune comes from Tesla, but investors in his other firms have complained that controlling Twitter has grown into a huge distraction.

In 2022, Tesla’s stock dropped 65% of its value. Tesla’s stock price increased after the tweet announcing the replacement of the Twitter CEO was released.

It possibly indicates that investors anticipate Musk will soon return his emphasis to Tesla. Tesla stakeholder Ross Gerber urged Tesla’s board of members in December to “wake up.”

The survey findings in December concluded a frenetic week that included modifications to Twitter’s policy on privacy and the suspension. It also included subsequent reinstatement of journalists’ accounts, which brought outrage from news organizations, advocacy groups, and governments across Europe.

Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in the fall of 2022 has been fraught with instability and controversy. He faced questions in court last November about how he divides his time between Tesla and his different firms, notably SpaceX and Twitter.

Musk was called to testify in a trial in a Delaware Court regarding a shareholder’s complaint about his possibly $55 billion remuneration proposal as CEO of Tesla. Musk stated that he never planned to serve as CEO of Tesla.

He does not want to be CEO of any other company, preferring to perceive himself as a skilled engineer. Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist,” first indicated that Twitter would stay available to everybody, including his detractors, and that he would delegate difficult choices about control of content and policy to an impartial council.

However, in November, the billionaire broke his vow and began acting as the final arbitrator regarding what Twitter must and must not allow. Musk and Twitter received heavy criticism in December after Musk exploited a meaningless rule change. It was regarding monitoring openly accessible flight data to exclude many high-profile journalists, who had been skeptical of him.

Musk’s net worth in December was around $155.8 billion, down from an all-time high of $320 billion a year before. The dramatic decrease has been caused by Tesla’s stock’s dismal performance, and he lost the title of world’s richest person to Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH in December.

Twitter partially altered its membership requirement last month by re-verifying historic accounts linked with basketball legend LeBron James and writer Stephen King. Musk explained his actions at Twitter in a December Twitter Spaces interview as a vigorous effort to protect the organization from financial ruin, referring to it as an “emergency fire drill.”

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan