Elon Musk Has Found A New Twitter CEO, But He's Not Going Anywhere

Elon Musk says he has found a new Chief Executive Officer for Twitter, months after announcing plans to step down from his role. "She will be starting in ~6 weeks!" Musk tweeted, without revealing the name of Twitter's new leader. The upcoming top executive at the social media platform will also serve as the head of X.com, the new parent company of Twitter that was registered earlier this year.

However, Musk won't go all-hands-off at Twitter. The billionaire says he will be lurking around as the executive chairperson at the company, and will also be fulfilling the role of its Chief Technology Officer, overseeing the development of new features, software, and system operations. Ever since his blockbuster Twitter approach, Musk has participated actively in all affairs at the company, from massive layoffs and ad operations to the rollout of new products, with mixed success.

Excited to announce that I've hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!

My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023

Earlier this month, Musk went live on Twitter via a video stream, claiming that the whole system was running off legacy Periscope code. Musk is reportedly eyeing the return of Vine and has already enabled encryption for Twitter DMs. Down the road, he reportedly plans to add features such as longer, higher-resolution video uploads so that Twitter can turn into a legit content hub with a flourishing economy of its own. That sounds easier said than done, but in his role as Twitter's CTO, Musk just might get the flexibility to realize some of those dreams, at least on the product development side of things.

Interestingly, Musk won't say why exactly he wants to vacate his CEO role at Twitter. But so far, things haven't really gone smoothly at the company with him at the helm. Musk pocketed the company for a cool $44 billion, but in less than a year, the value of Twitter has come crashing down to about $20 billion. The most controversial move has been the Twitter Blue system, which has turned the whole concept of a verified account on its head by selling it for $8 per month.

More recently, Musk announced that all accounts that have been lying dormant will be suspended and their usernames freed. Journalists and activists have criticized the move because Twitter serves as an invaluable repository of content that has been used for everything from academic research to criminal proceedings. On a more personal note, acquaintances of deceased users are lambasting Musk for snatching the internet-documented memories of their loved ones, though he later said the removed profiles will be archived.

But Musk's decision makes more sense from a financial perspective. Tesla investors have been complaining for a while about Musk's involvement in Twitter's affairs, which have shifted his energy and attention away from the EV brand. Interestingly, Tesla is where the majority of Musk's wealth is concentrated. Tesla has lately been scripting new records in shipment figures and impressive infrastructure development, but its market leadership has also never been in more a perilous condition than the current state of white-hot competition in the electric car market.