Twitter users vote for Elon Musk to step down as head of Twitter

Elon Musk asked his 122 million followers whether he should remove himself as chief of Twitter, and now the result is in: almost 60% of the 17.5 million people who voted believe he should step down. 

Musk said he would abide by the result of the poll, which he posted on Twitter at 6:20 pm ET Sunday, shortly after tweeting the result of Argentina’s World Cup victory in Qatar over France. 

More than 17.5 million people had voted by Monday as the poll closed, with the end result being that 57.5% voted for him to step down as CEO of Twitter.  

It’s not clear whether Musk will step down from the role he assumed in late October after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion. He then fired over half of its 7,000-strong workforce. However, he has abided by past polls, such as the result of his poll asking whether to reinstate accounts that were banned by the firm’s former leadership. 

He tweeted a few cryptic comments around the time of the poll, including: “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it”, and “Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it.”

Also: Elon Musk promises not to make Twitter a ‘free-for-all hellscape’

He also noted on Sunday: “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”

The United Nations and European Union last week condemned Musk’s Twitter for banning several reporters from the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post.  

Twitter last week also relaunched Twitter Blue, its $8 a month subscription for individuals, as well as Twitter Blue for Business that carries a gold checkmark. 

Musk hoped to change the balance of Twitter’s revenue away from advertising, which accounted for about 90% of its revenues prior to his acquisition. According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk paid for Twitter by taking on $13 billion in debt and now Twitter will have to $9 billion in interest to banks and hedge funds over the next seven to eight years, when the $13 billion in debt matures. 

On November 4, shortly after Twitter’s mass layoffs, Musk said the company was losing $4 million a day.