Who will be Twitter's new CEO? Internet makes wild guesses after Elon Musk hints at stepping down

Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter Sunday evening, asking people to vote on whether he should stand down as CEO of Twitter (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME)
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Twitter's mercurial new boss might be out the door after less than two months on the job - if the results of a Twitter poll go against him. Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter Sunday evening, December 18, asking people to vote on whether he should stand down as CEO of Twitter. Musk said he would abide by the poll's results.

An overwhelming 57% have said yes in the ongoing poll. In many follow-up tweets, Musk implied that he was serious about quitting and made a vague threat regarding Twitter's future if he is voted out. "As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it," he wrote in one tweet. Twitter polls usually don't mean much, but Musk has a track record of following through on them. Given the lack of a clear succession, Musk's strategy, if he has one, is yet to be revealed. 

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But that hasn't stopped the Internet from poking fun and making some wild guesses. Someone tweeted, "Please welcome the new Twitter CEO, Elonas Muskis," with a photoshopped image of Musk resembling Groucho Marx. Another wrote, ''New Twitter's CEO," along with a feminized photo of Musk that read, "Twitter CEO, Eleana Musk."

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Another user wrote, "There is tons of speculation on who @ElonMusk is considering for the new CEO of Twitter. I'm going to say this - it better be an outsider. If we get another Silicon Valley Leftist in charge, it's all over. Nominate someone who is NOT from that world and NOT from the Left." Someone else wrote, "BREAKING: Elon Musk announced new Twitter CEO." The user shared an image of a smirking Donald Trump with the tweet.

Musk's brief tenure at Twitter has already been ridden with controversies. After buying the platform for $44 billion and taking over as CEO in late October, Musk quickly fired several key executives and laid off over half of Twitter's workforce. He then gave an ultimatum to the remaining personnel that they needed to do "extremely hardcore" work or quit — and another thousand or so employees headed out the door. Besides, Musk has fired staff who openly disagreed with him and even publicly named and shamed former employees who were involved in unpleasant moderating debates as part of the ongoing "Twitter Files" reveals.

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This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.


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