Elon Musk said on Tuesday he will still be in charge of Twitter’s software and server teams after relinquishing his CEO seat to “someone foolish enough to take it.” He broke The news in response to a poll he conducted earlier this week, where about 58 percent of respondents said he should step down as CEO.
Given that the social networking site is mostly software and servers (especially after the massive layoffs), it’s clear that Musk will still have direct control over the company, even if he doesn’t have the explicit CEO title. That’s not necessarily a surprise; Musk has de facto control over the product at most of his companies, and ultimately he still owns Twitter. But the announcement is likely to spell disappointment for anyone hoping his resignation as CEO would end Twitter’s wild rollercoaster ride.
While Musk has indicated Although he is primarily interested in the Twitter users willing to pay him for the service, there is one more group of people he must satisfy: Tesla shareholders. The companies the share price has plummeted since Musk bought Twitter, its value has dropped nearly $100 since Nov. 1, to about $137 when markets closed on Tuesday.
Musk has, multiple timeblamed fall in interest rates making saving more attractive than investing, but some Tesla shareholders have expressed concern about the company’s engineers joining Twitter and how Musk’s antics at Twitter will affect his other companies. “The only problem is the optics of having the CEO on Twitter every day discussing Hunter Biden’s problems,” said Ross Gerber, a head of a company that invested in Tesla, according to Business Insider. Musk has also since sold billions of Tesla shares promised to stop this spring (and weather in the summer). It seems likely that some of the money from Tesla’s sale was used to support Twitter.
Unfortunately for Tesla shareholders – a group involving Musk, whose shares once made him the richest man in the world until the stock price plummeted cost him that title — it doesn’t look like Musk plans to step away from Twitter any time soon. Of course, whoever he gets as CEO could be tasked with trying to corral advertisers and policymakers, both of whom have been eyeing Twitter’s new management with suspicion. But when it comes to the Twitter people actually use, it sounds like Elon will still be Chief Twit.
