Elon Musk has announced that he will step down as CEO of Twitter following overwhelming votes from users. But Musk had already decided to leave.

Elon Musk would like to be portrayed as a compassionate chief who listens and respects his constituents. Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images
Elon Musk conducted a survey asking Twitter users if they wanted him to resign as CEO. The majority of respondents said yes. Musk’s poll may seem democratic, but he is just creating a narrative that suits his plans.

Twitter users have spoken out and want Elon Musk to go.

To help you tune in to the billionaire CEO, Musk held a poll on Sunday night asking Twitter users if they wanted him to resign as head of the social media company. The poll drew 17.5million votes, more than the average US viewership for the World Cup Final which was around 16.8million.

A majority of voters, 57%, believed Musk should be fired. Musk, who had said he’d follow the results of the poll on Tuesday, finally spoke out and stated that he would resign his position as Twitter’s chief executive if he finds “someone foolish enough” to fill the role.

There has been a lot of speculation about the referendum. Why did Musk run it? Will he leave? Who will take over Twitter? – Musk was aware of the results and planned to use them as an excuse for a decision he took long ago.

Musk presented himself as a compassionate chief who listens and is able to answer the question “stay-or-go” in an online poll. Musk is actually spinning a story about his resignation in order to make Tesla his favorite company.

Insider was told by Peter Bamberger, a professor from Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management. He can now feel legitimized in terms of stepping down and also create an image of himself as a democratic leader, which will help him maximize his personal wealth.

A community-minded, egalitarian leader who does what he desires

Many companies use social-media surveys and online polls to engage customers and gain market intelligence. However, this market data may not be perfect.

Musk enjoys taking polls. One example: Should Musk sell more Tesla stock Should Donald Trump be allowed to return to the platform? Should Twitter allow suspended accounts to be reinstated?

Musk does not conduct polls to inform or engage. It’s more to justify his plans and view.

“He doesn’t seem impulsive,” Bamberger said. He selects his polls and only does them when he is certain of the outcome.

He can make his leadership egalitarian and community-minded by allowing Twitter users the ability to make decisions for him through unorthodox means. He wants to resign from his position as CEO of Twitter.

This should not be surprising to anyone. Musk stated to investors in May that he would serve as temporary CEO of Twitter until he completes his $44 billion takeover. Musk stated that he did not care about the role of CEO at Twitter during his June meeting with employees. Musk reiterated this sentiment in November when he stated, “I expect my time at Twitter to be reduced and I will find someone else to manage Twitter over the long-term.”

Musk would be smart to leave Twitter. Many consider his leadership of Twitter a disaster. Even Musk loyalists support him leaving. They view his time as head of the social media platform as a distraction for Tesla. Investors seem to agree that Tesla’s value has dropped since Musk purchased Twitter.

It’s possible that Musk was wrong to believe the poll would have gone differently. Perhaps he believed that users would ask him to remain as CEO for the rest of his life.

Ariane Ollier Malaterre, a professor in the School of Management at Universite du Quebec a Montreal said that “I am not his mind.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2022.

Business Insider has the original article.
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By: rknight@insider.com (Rebecca Knight)
Title: Elon Musk said he will resign as CEO of Twitter after users overwhelmingly voted for him to leave. But the billionaire had already decided to go.
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/musk-ran-his-ceo-poll-under-the-guise-of-democratic-leadership-2022-12
Published Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2022 15:59:20 +0000