After his Twitter poll in which more than 10 million users voted that he should step down as CEO of the social media company, Elon Musk he has said he will only resign when he finds a suitable successor.
On top of that, the billionaire said that he will continue to run the core part of the company (software and servers) even after his resignation.
But Musk suggested it may be hard to find someone willing to take up the Twitter CEO’s offer, noting that his replacement must be “dumb enough” to want the job.
Reaction to the survey: In his first reaction to the poll, two days after it concluded with 57.5% of 17.5 million users voting that he should step down as Twitter CEO, Musk said:
- “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone dumb enough to take the job! After that, I’ll just run the software and server teams.”
Finding a new Twitter CEO: Earlier on Monday, Musk responded to a Twitter user’s comment that the billionaire should have appointed a chief executive officer immediately after finalizing his $44 billion acquisition of the company. According to Musk, it can be hard to find someone to keep Twitter alive like him.
- “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.” he said.
Meanwhile, Twitter users have been suggesting various names for Musk to consider for CEO. Names being floated as a possible replacement for Musk include Sheryl Sandberg, a former Facebook COO, Sriram Krishnan, an engineer and close Musk confidant, and Jared Kushner, a former US presidential adviser and son-in-law of Donald Trump.
Some also speculate that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey could return to run the company as well. Jack stepped down as CEO in November 2021 and supported Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, though they disagree with some of the latter’s recent policies.