Elon Musk announces he’ll step down as Twitter CEO and teases new boss who will replace him in six weeks
ELON Musk has announced that Twitter will get a new CEO in the coming weeks as he will step down from the position.
The Twitter owner announced on the social media platform on Thursday that the new CEO, an unnamed woman, will start in about six weeks.
Meanwhile, Musk said he will transition to being executive chair and chief technology officer, overseeing product, software, and systems operations.
Musk completed his $44billion acquisition of Twitter last October.
Upon his Twitter takeover, Musk immediately slashed hundreds of jobs in a bid to save the company from bankruptcy and fired senior leaders, including former CEO Parag Agrawal.
Musk said last November that he expected to dedicate his time to Twitter as he revamped the social media platform before eventually finding a new leader.
The tech billionaire has since made a series of changes to the blue bird platform, including reinstating accounts that were banned for rule violations, requiring users to pay for verified status, and drilling down on bot and spam accounts.
Under Twitter’s new subscription, users can access account verification – the site’s signature blue checkmark – for an $8 monthly fee, which equals $96 yearly.
Twitter previously verified celebrities, politicians, journalists and prominent figures on a case-by-case basis to certify their identities and prevent imposters.
On Thursday, he also warned Twitter users to be cautious when testing the new encrypted direct message feature on the social media platform.
“Early version of encrypted direct messages just launched. Try it, but don’t trust it yet,” Musk tweeted.
Earlier this week, Musk shared details about new features, including adding calls and encrypted messaging, coming to the platform.
“Coming soon will be voice and video chat from your handle to anyone on this platform, so you can talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number,” Musk said in a tweet.
However, his takeover received blowback as critics claimed his acquisition would “provide a megaphone to extremists who traffic in white nationalism, hate, disinformation, and harassment,” endangering marginalized communities.
Several advertisers also pulled their content on Twitter over concerns that Musk’s views on free speech could damage their reputation.