- Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he may appoint his successor as CEO of Twitter by the end of 2023.
- “I think I need to strengthen the organization and make sure it’s in a healthy financial place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out,” Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
- The billionaire indicated late last year that he did not expect to become Twitter’s CEO permanently and would eventually hand the reins to someone else.
UAE Cabinet Minister Mohammad al-Gergawi (L-on stage) talks to Elon Musk who attended the World Government Summit roughly in Dubai on February 15, 2023. end of 2023.
Kareem Sahib AFP | Getty Images
Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he may appoint his successor as CEO of Twitter by the end of 2023 but first needs to “strengthen” his social media company.
“I think I need to strengthen the organization and make sure it’s in a healthy financial place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out,” Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
“I think that maybe the end of this year should be a good time to find someone to manage the company because I think it should be in a strong position by the end of this year.”
Musk took over as CEO of Twitter in October as part of his $44 billion acquisition of the social media firm.
The billionaire indicated late last year that he did not expect to become Twitter’s CEO permanently and would eventually hand the reins to someone else.
In December, Musk tweeted a poll asking people if he should step down as head of Twitter. A majority of 17.5 million votes said yes.
“I’ll resign as CEO as soon as I find someone stupid enough to take the job! After that, I’ll just run the software & servers teams,” Musk Tweet after the poll.
Musk talked about the thinking behind the acquisition versus building his own social media company.
“I thought about building something from scratch, but I think Twitter can accelerate development compared to building something from scratch in three to five years,” Musk said. “And I think we’re seeing a huge acceleration in technology that’s three to five years of real value.”
Musk spoke about his motives for buying Twitter, saying that he was “a little concerned about the direction and impact of social media in the world, and Twitter in particular.”
“I think it’s very important to have the most reliable kind of digital public square, where people within countries and internationally can communicate with the least amount of censorship allowed by law. Obviously that varies a lot from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. “
His comments echo those he has made over the past few years. He calls himself a “free speech absolutist.”
Musk said on Wednesday, however, that social media companies “must follow the laws of other countries and not try to put a finger on the scale beyond the laws of those countries.” He accused Twitter of imposing the “values” of San Francisco and Berkeley, the university of California, which he described as a “niche ideology,” in the way it conducts business.
“I think it’s important, kind of, for the future of civilization to try to correct the thumb on the scale,” said Musk, describing his motivations behind the purchase of Twitter.
Musk has faced criticism for, on the one hand, promoting freedom of speech while also complying with countries’ censorship laws, a fine line he is trying to walk, as his comments show.
The latest controversy centers on a BBC documentary critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian government last month ordered internet platforms and social media companies, including Twitter, to block links and videos to the documentary. Twitter appears to be complying with the order, according to NBC News.
Musk responded to a user in January who asked if Twitter was actually following orders from the Indian government.
“First I’ve heard. It’s not possible for me to fix every aspect of Twitter around the world overnight, while Tesla and SpaceX are still running, and other things,” answered Musk.
