In a sign that his tenure as CEO has proven too contentious even for him, Elon Musk asked his Twitter followers Dec. 19 to vote on whether he should stay on as head of the social media platform he bought in October.
Twelve hours later, a solid majority—57.5 percent—favored Musk’s exit.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
The last few days have been particularly stormy for Musk at Twitter, as debates have raged on the platform and off about his commitment to free speech, his ostensible purpose for buying the site. He banned a number of journalists for so-called “doxxing” before reinstating some, then declared he would ban tweets that promote competing social media sites. Meanwhile, the third largest shareholder of Tesla called for his ouster, saying he was to distracted by Twitter to be an effective CEO of the car company.
Whether Musk actually follows through on his pledge to “abide” by the results of the poll is quite another thing. From his initial decision to purchase the site, to his court battle to avoid having to buy it, to all his actions as CEO, the only constant so far has been his inconsistency.
