Elon Musk to step down as Twitter CEO to attract Saudi investors? Has Jared Kushner brokered the deal?- Technology News, Firstpost

Mehul Reuben DasDec 20, 2022 16:08:28 IST

Elon Musk had long ago announced that he does not want to be the CEO of any of his companies, and that he would much rather spend his time working with the engineers at SpaceX, Tesla and some of his other companies.

So when Musk put up a poll, asking his Twitter followers on whether he should step down as the CEO of the social media platform, many people started assuming that this was his way of announcing that he would be stepping away from the role, because that’s what the people on Twitter wanted. That way, if and when Twitter goes bankrupt, he would have been able to shirk some responsibility.

However, things are not as straightforward as it seems. Before he put up the poll, Elon Musk was spotted at the finals of the Qatar World Cup, between Argentina and France. Musk was spotted with Jared Kushner the son-in-law of the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. 

Apparently, Musk, who has been looking for private investors to buy privately held shares of Twitter, was in Qatar to have a meeting with a few people from Saudi Arabia, as well as Qatar, and see, if they would be willing to invest in Twitter.

oh look elon musk is at the world cup with jared kushner pic.twitter.com/OposGx4Y3B

— marguerite (@mantispants) December 18, 2022

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law has a number of business ventures in Saudi Arabia, and has a lot of close ties to some of the most prominent members of Saudi Royal family. Earlier this year, the New York Times had discovered that Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, managed over $2.5 billion, of which about $2 billion is from Saudi Arabia, mainly Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Elon Musk and former US President Donald Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner have been spotted at the World Cup final match in Qatar.@elonmusk @jaredkushner @fifaworldcup

????: @alwoozain pic.twitter.com/a2GibzBYAi

— Doha News (@dohanews) December 18, 2022

Evidently, ever since Musk put up the poll asking if he should step down as Twitter CEO, several people have speculated that the timing of the poll suggests that Musk has already selected someone to replace him as Twitter’s CEO. Or, that he has finally started taking the process of finding his replacement seriously.

Ahhh this explains it pic.twitter.com/OlZkrgBmuG

— The Serfs (@theserfstv) December 19, 2022

Apparently, a few people from the Saudi royal family have decided to back Elon Musk and invest in Twitter. However, they have set the condition that Musk needs to step away from the position of CEO and appoint someone else. 

This claim seems to be supported by the timing of Musk’s tweet and the fact that he attended the final with Jared Kushner, who apparently tried to broker the deal between the Saudis and Musk. There is a strong possibility that Kushner is either appointed to a significant position at Twitter, or perhaps even made CEO, although the chances of that happening are slim. Or, there is the alternate possibility that Kushner gets stock options in a number of Musk’s companies, namely Tesla and perhaps even Twitter.