Elon Musk announced on Thursday that he has identified a new CEO for Twitter, now known as X Corp. He hints that the individual is a woman. Although he did not reveal her name, Musk stated that she will commence her role in approximately six weeks.
As the purchaser of Twitter last autumn and its operational head since then, Musk has consistently emphasized that he is not the permanent CEO of the company.
During mid-November, just a few weeks after acquiring the social media platform for $44 billion, Musk expressed to a Delaware court his disinterest in assuming the role of CEO for any company. While testifying, he affirmed his plans to gradually reduce his involvement with Twitter and find a suitable replacement to oversee its operations.
Over a month later, in December, Musk tweeted, “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job,” following a Twitter poll he created in response to millions of users urging him to step down, to which he promised to adhere.
At a conference in February, Musk revealed his anticipation of appointing a CEO for Twitter based in San Francisco, stating that it would likely occur towards the end of the current year.
Despite not yet knowing the identity of the incoming CEO, analysts monitoring Twitter’s business have welcomed the news. Under Musk’s unpredictable leadership, Twitter’s advertising division has faced challenges, although the billionaire claimed in a recent BBC interview that the company is now “roughly” breaking even.
“A new CEO is the only way forward for Twitter,” noted Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg. “Elon Musk was the primary obstacle to Twitter’s ad business. As he steps back, Twitter can disentangle Musk’s personal brand from the company’s corporate image and strive to rebuild trust with advertisers. The success of these efforts will hinge on the successor, but it’s hard to envision a CEO who would be more controversial or detrimental to Twitter’s ad business than Musk has been.”
Following Musk’s announcement, Tesla’s shares experienced a 2% rise on Thursday. Shareholders of the electric car company have expressed concerns regarding the amount of attention Musk devotes to Twitter.
Engaging in banter with Twitter followers late last year, Musk expressed skepticism regarding the prospects of finding a new CEO, stating that the person would need to “like pain a lot” to oversee a company that “had been on the fast lane to bankruptcy.”
“No one wants a job that can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,” Musk tweeted at that time.
