Elon Musk may appoint successor as Twitter CEO by year end

February 15, 2023 7:01 pm

FILE - Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., March 14, 2019. Musk's legal team is demanding to hear from a whistleblowing former Twitter executive who could help bolster Musk's case for backing out of a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company. Twitter's former security chief Peiter Zatko received a subpoena on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, from Musk's team, according to Zatko's lawyer and court records. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Inc., says he may step aside as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter and hand over the company to someone else by the end of 2023.

Musk spoke at the world government summit in Dubai on Wednesday.

The billionaire had, in December 2022, said he would resign as Twitter’s CEO when he finds someone “foolish enough to take the job”.

He added that after his replacement is found, he would still run the software and servers teams.

Prior to this, Musk used a Twitter poll to determine whether he should remain as CEO, with a promise to abide by the results.

57.5 percent of the 17.5 million users who partook in the poll, asked for his exit.

Speaking virtually at the event in Dubai, he was asked if he had identified a new CEO for Twitter and when that person would be hired.

The billionaire, in response, said towards the end of 2023 would be “good timing” to find someone else to run the micro-blogging platform.

He said by then, Twitter would be financially stable.

“I think I need to stabilise the organisation and just make sure it’s in a financially healthy place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out,” Musk said.

“I don’t know, I’m guessing probably towards the end of this year would be good timing to find someone else to run the company, because I think it should be in a stable position around, you know, at the end of this year.”

The billionaire added that “a lot of work [is] required to take Twitter to a service-stable position”.