Twitter users voted in favour of Elon Musk stepping down as the company's chief executive, but it remains unclear if the mercurial leader will follow through on his pledge to abide by the results of the poll, he posted on the platform he bought for $44 billion.
Almost 58 per cent, or about 9.86 million, from more than 17.5 million users voted "yes" in the poll, which ended at 3.20pm UAE time. The margin remained steady from the early hours of the initial tweet.
Mr Musk posted the poll late on Sunday, in which he asked, "Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll." He has yet to respond to the results as of posting time.
If he does make good on his word, he would step down as chief executive barely two months into the role.
The move is unconventional but not unusual for Mr Musk, who has used Twitter to ask his 122 million followers and other users for their opinions. This includes matters on his business interests — even serious ones such as when he asked if he should sell more stock in his electric vehicle company Tesla.
Mr Musk's poll, however, is seen as an ominous sign for his time at the helm of Twitter, and a change could be imminent that could favour both Twitter and Tesla, said Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities.
"While clearly unconventional, the Musk CEO poll is a sign that the noise is growing louder and louder, given the spider web of Twitter and Tesla weakness," he said. "Poll results will dictate if Musk stays officially CEO of Twitter … a big moment for this Twitter situation.
"If Musk leaves as Twitter CEO and appoints someone else [social media background ideal], this would be a major positive for Tesla shares as the Twitter overhang would be significantly reduced clearly in our opinion."
Mr Musk's tenure at Twitter has been marred by controversial decisions, including implementing new rules and suspending accounts that he deemed too critical — which goes against the free speech mantra he had invoked when pursuing the acquisition.
The company has also reversed several decisions. Last week, Mr Musk suspended the accounts of journalists who were tracking his flights, only to quickly reinstate them — after asking users in yet another poll.
He also fired Twitter's senior executives and almost half of its employees and introduced a new pay scheme, a move that was compounded when advertisers left, citing disillusionment at the company's direction.
Mr Musk said the moves were part of plans to fix Twitter's leadership and save its bottom line, claiming that the company was losing millions of dollars every day.
Source: The National
Image: Getty Images
