Elon Musk has announced that he has found a new CEO for Twitter and will transition into the role of Chief Technology Officer for the social media platform within the next few weeks. While Musk did not reveal the name of his successor, Blind, an anonymous messaging app for tech employees, has been rife with speculation. Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and a top executive at Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink, Shivon Zilis, were among the names being discussed on Blind, according to a former employee. Other potential candidates include top female executives from Musk’s other companies, such as SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Tesla Inc Chair Robyn Denholm.
Musk said he would transition to the role of Twitter’s executive chair, where he would oversee product, software, and sysops. The announcement helped alleviate some investor concerns around Musk’s active involvement at Twitter, and Tesla shares closed 2.1 percent higher on Thursday. Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October had initially caused concern among investors who feared it could stretch the billionaire thin. In a Twitter poll started by Musk in December, 57.5 percent of users voted for him to step down as CEO of the social media platform.
Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, has said he took over Twitter to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division. He also said he would “defeat” spam bots on the platform, a key area of his tussle with Twitter’s board over his back and forth on the $44 billion buyout of the company.
Musk’s first two weeks as the new Twitter owner in October were marked by rapid change. He quickly fired Twitter’s previous CEO Parag Agrawal and other senior leaders and then laid off half its staff in November. Now, with a new CEO at the helm, it remains to be seen what changes will come next for the social media platform.
