Elon Musk at Twitter: Who could replace him as chief executive?
Elon Musk is considering his next steps after a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as chief executive.
More than 17 million people had their say – with 57.5% voting yes – leaving the next obvious question being, if not Mr Musk, who?
The billionaire, who has been at the helm of the social platform since October, said he would abide by the results of the poll.
But he has not made any announcements regarding plans to leave his position.
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive,” he tweeted following the poll.
No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
Bob O’Donnell, from TECHnalysis Research, warned that trying to predict who might take over the social platform was a “pointless exercise because of how unpredictable and short-lived every decision” regarding Twitter has been in the Musk era.
Even so, we take a look at who might be in the running.
Jared Kushner
Mr Musk’s poll was posted just hours after he was seen at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, where he watched Argentina beat France on penalties to win the men’s football World Cup.
He was at the game alongside Jared Kushner, a former US presidential adviser and Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
The pictures of the men flooded Twitter, with viewers questioning their relationship. Could he be Mr Musk’s latest recruit?
Sriram Krishnan
A close confidante of Mr Musk is Sriram Krishnan, an Indian technocrat who was tasked by the billionaire to monetise the platform.
He is one of the few to be included in Mr Musk’s core team at Twitter.
Mr Krishnan, who is a former Twitter, Meta and Microsoft employee, is also an investor, technologist and engineer who hosts a podcast and YouTube channel with his wife.
“I invest and am interested in the intersection of consumer tech and crypto,” he says on his website.
He lists pro wrestling as one of his interests and believes in “the importance of making a big entrance” – something that perhaps chimes with Mr Musk.
David Sacks
Technology investor and podcaster David Sacks is another one of the experienced names in Mr Musk’s inner circle.
Mr Sacks was involved at the beginning of PayPal with Mr Musk and is a member of the so-called “PayPal Mafia” – a group of former executives of the firm who have become billionaires by founding some of Silicon Valley’s most successful tech businesses.
Jack Dorsey
Co-founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey has stepped in to run it twice, so could it be third time lucky?
Arguably, there is nobody who knows the platform better than Mr Dorsey, who resigned as chief executive in November 2021.
He had been serving as chief executive of both Twitter and payment firm Square and had been under pressure from investors, who felt Twitter was not getting the focus it needed while he was also running Square.
Mr Dorsey not only extricated himself from Twitter but he also gave up his board seat – so has had no known involvement under Mr Musk apart from initially being supportive of his takeover.
Sarah Friar
Ms Friar was previously finance boss at Square, the payments company set up by Mr Dorsey. She is now the chief executive of Nextdoor, a social network that centres around local neighbourhoods.
She has been described as one of the “most highly regarded” executives in Silicon Valley with an “exceptionally rare mix of proven business skills, and authentic heart and soul”.
David Marcus
Another member of the “PayPal Mafia”, Mr Marcus is the former president of PayPal and is close to Mr Musk. He was one of the first tech leaders to embrace cryptocurrencies.
He was previously a top-ranking executive at Facebook’s parent company Meta, heading up the firm’s cryptocurrency project Diem and Messenger. He was also on the board of Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform.
He now runs crypto-focused company Lightspark which is working on “extending the capabilities” of bitcoin.
If Mr Musk’s future plans for making profits from Twitter include integrating cryptocurrency into existing products and services, then Mr Marcus might be a leading candidate.
Sheryl Sandberg
Formerly the chief operating officer of Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s righthand woman, Sheryl Sandberg resigned from the role in June to focus on her philanthropic work.
She was seen as largely transforming Facebook’s revenue strategy, positioning the platform to make profits from small business advertising and being at the helm during its meteoric rise.
Could the top job at Twitter tempt her back into one of the biggest roles in Silicon Valley?
Parag Agrawal
When Mr Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, he immediately sacked the former boss Parag Agrawal, co-founder Mr Dorsey’s handpicked successor.
His sacking marked the beginning of the chaotic Musk era – so might Mr Musk want some stability and bring him back?
Edward Snowden
One of the only people to throw their hat into the ring, albeit jokingly, is Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower.
I take payment in Bitcoin. https://t.co/wW0Qa9NxWi
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 19, 2022
Mr Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since he leaked details of extensive internet and phone surveillance by US intelligence agencies.
But given his espionage charges in the US, it would seem running Twitter would be rather difficult from Moscow.
Timeline: Musk’s turbulent Twitter takeover
‘Chief Twit’ takes control
Musk completes his $44bn (£38.1bn) takeover of Twitter, immediately firing a number of the company’s top executives and tweeting “the bird is freed”.
Before officially taking charge of the company, Musk changed his Twitter profile to read “Chief Twit” and turned up to Twitter HQ in San Francisco carrying a sink, saying: “Let that sink in!”
Platform battles ‘trolling campaign’
After a surge in tweets containing racist language, Twitter’s head of trust and safety says: “Hateful conduct has no place here.” Yoel Roth says the company is taking action against users “involved in this trolling campaign” to make Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone.
Musk shares inaccurate story
Musk tweets an article containing a number of inaccuracies about an attack on the husband of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi by a hammer-wielding intruder. The site has a history of publishing inaccurate stories and Musk later deletes the tweet after a backlash.
Trump return dismissed – for now
With just over a week to go before the US midterm elections, Musk responds to questions about whether he will reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account on Twitter by tweeting: “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!”
Later that day, Musk attended a halloween party in New York and posed for photographs wearing a “Devil’s champion” costume.
Criticism over subscription service
Following reports that Twitter will begin charging users to have verified accounts, Musk responds to criticism from author Stephen King by saying: “We need to pay the bills somehow!”.
Musk moves to cut staff numbers
Employees at the company begin receiving emails entitled “Your Role at Twitter” informing them whether they have lost their jobs. Responding to news about the layoffs, Musk says “unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”.
Yoel Roth, the head of trust and safety, said 50% of the company’s nearly 8,000 employees had been laid off but sought to reassure users and advertisers that the platform’s moderation capacity remained intact.
Twitter founder breaks silence
Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey breaks his silence over the Musk takeover to apologise to staff who have lost their jobs, saying: “I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly.”
Crackdown on parody accounts
Musk announces that Twitter accounts impersonating people without being clearly labelled a parody will be permanently suspended – a change to the previous process when accounts were given a warning first.
A number of accounts that changed their name to “Elon Musk” and mocked the billionaire had already been suspended or placed behind a warning sign.
Warnings about Twitter’s survival
In his first email to Twitter staff, Musk warns that the “economic picture ahead is dire” and adds: “Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn.”
Meanwhile, after the launch of the $8-a-month Twitter Blue subscription, which gives paying users a blue tick, a slew of parody accounts that appear to be verified emerge, including a fake George W Bush account that tweets: “I miss killing Iraqis”. Within days, the service is paused.
Key staff leave company
More high-profile staff quit, including head of trust and safety Yoel Roth and chief security officer Lea Kissner.
Musk cuts down on contractors
Reports in US media say thousands of contractors who had been working for Twitter have had their contracts terminated. Technology news site Platformer says as many as 80% of its 5,500 contractor workforce were laid off in the move but the company made no official announcement.
Staff told: Be hardcore or leave
In a late-night email to all Twitter staff, Musk says employees must commit to a “hardcore” culture of working “long hours at high intensity” or leave the company.
Company offices abruptly closed
In a surprise announcement, Twitter says its company offices will be closed temporarily. The move comes amid reports that large numbers of Twitter staff had resigned.
Responding to fears the platform was about to shut down due to losing key staff, Musk tweeted: “The best people are staying, so I’m not super worried.”
Twitter Blue relaunched
The paid-for verification feature Twitter Blue is relaunched. It is still $8 per month – but Twitter cranks it up to $11 for those using the app on Apple devices. Musk says he resents the commission fee Apple charges on in-app purchases.
Suspensions for location ‘doxxing’
Musk says he is taking legal action against the holder of the @ElonJet Twitter account that tracks his private jet, claiming it put his son at risk.
He also suspends the accounts of reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post, among others, saying they had shared his location.
After condemnation from the UN, a threat of sanctions from the European Union, and a Twitter poll, Musk lifts the suspension for the journalists’ accounts, saying “the people have spoken”. The @ElonJet account remains suspended.
Twitter users vote for Musk to step down
Twitter users voted in favour of Musk stepping down as its chief executive after he ran a poll on his future, promising he would “abide by the results”.
Millions voted, with a final total of 57.5% saying “yes”.
Follow Shiona McCallum on Twitter @shionamc
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