Musk Remains Silent Eight Hours After Poll Supporting His Resignation As Twitter CEO Ends

Topline

Elon Musk has yet to address the results of his poll in which millions of Twitter users said they want the billionaire to resign as Twitter CEO, in what could be a bizarre but fitting end to the billionaire’s two-month tenure at the helm of the social media company.

Elon Musk, center, at the World Cup final on Sunday.

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Key Facts

Musk tweeted a poll Sunday evening asking if he should step down as Twitter’s head honcho and promised to “abide” by the results.

Users overwhelmingly supported his resignation, as 57.5% of the 17.5 million respondents voted in favor of Musk’s ouster, with the results finalizing Monday at 6:20 a.m. EST.

Musk has not posted since late Sunday, when he shared several cryptic posts about Twitter’s doomed future without him in charge and then questioned the media’s alleged lack of attention toward crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border in a 9 p.m. post Sunday, his most recent activity on the site.

Key Background

Musk agreed to buy Twitter at a $44 billion valuation in April, and officially took power of the company October 27 after trying to back out of the deal for six months. Musk immediately fired Twitter’s incumbent CEO Parag Agrawal and installed himself in the post, also sacking most other executives and shrinking Twitter’s total headcount by over 50%. An avowed critic of Twitter’s content moderation and alleged liberal “bias,” Musk quickly reinstated many previously banned users, mostly with far-right politics. But Musk’s commitment to “free speech absolutism” came into question last week after Twitter suspended a popular account tracking the location of Musk’s private jet and the accounts of several journalists critical of Musk and banned links to other social media sites (some of the journalists’ accounts were restored). Numerous Twitter advertisers halted ads on the site during Musk’s reign, a massive blow to the company’s bottom line considering ads accounted for more than 90% of Twitter’s revenue before it went private.

What We Don’t Know

Who would take over as Twitter CEO. Musk’s resignation and firing of other top officials leaves the company with a massive power vacuum. Musk tweeted Sunday he has not selected a successor, claiming, “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive.”

Crucial Quote

“Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it,” Musk posted Sunday. It’s unclear who Musk, also the CEO of the world’s most valuable carmaker Tesla and the private $140 billion aerospace firm SpaceX, was referring to. Musk claimed in Delaware court last month he didn’t “want to be CEO of any company,” also testifying he planned to “find somebody else to run Twitter over time.”

Big Number

61%. That’s how much Tesla shares fell since Musk disclosed he took a majority stake in Twitter on April 4, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 17% decline during the period. Tesla shares rose as much as 4.7% in pre-market trading Monday before settling into a 0.1% daily decline amid a broader selloff.

Chief Critic

“This has been a black eye moment for Musk,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a Monday note to clients. Musk is “finally reading the room” if he resigns and refocuses his attention on the “golden child Tesla,” Ives said. Musk sold $22.9 billion in Tesla stock since he first agreed to buy Twitter, fueling the Tesla decline as investors soured on Musk dedicating his attention and resources to the social media company.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Musk to be worth $163.6 billion, making him the second-wealthiest person in the world, trailing only French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault.