Elon Musk Says He’s Found New Twitter CEO, Will Step Down in 6 Weeks
Elon Musk has announced he will soon be stepping down as CEO of Twitter.
He announced the news on Twitter, sharing, “Exciting to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” He further noted, “My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”
Musk did not name the new Twitter CEO in his announcement. However, his use of the “she” pronoun indicates he’s hired a woman. USA Today notes that while he’s stepping down as CEO, Musk’s role as executive chairman and chief technology officer. This means he “will still call the shots.”
Musk’s time as Twitter CEO has been rocky and controversial. The billionaire businessman purchased the social media platform in April 2022 for nearly $44 billion. Since then, he and the platform have been fodder for news outlets worldwide. Headlines related to Musk and Twitter ranged from mass layoffs to chaotic work environments. They also included the bungled rollout of Twitter Blue. The latter controversy resulted in multiple impersonator accounts of notable public figures and companies. Those accounts were later suspended as explored in the article below.
The most recent controversy at Twitter stemmed from only being able to get a verified checkmark on an account if a user subscribed to Twitter Blue for $8/month. Previously verified accounts have since lost their verified checkmark if they didn’t pay.
Elon Musk Suspending Impersonator Twitter Accounts
Elon Musk’s “comedy is now legal” claim 24 hours after his Twitter takeover on October 28 has not aged well. When it comes to jokes about the new Twitter CEO, verified accounts that changed their names to “Elon Musk” have been suspended over the weekend.
Musk, 51, addressed the verified impersonator accounts with a Twitter thread on Sunday (November 6) evening. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk wrote. “Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning,” Musk said in another tweet. “This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.” He concluded his thread by saying, “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.”
“Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people,” Musk said in a tweet after the thread. “My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk wrote.
One Twitter user reported on the news that comedian Kathy Griffin was suspended for impersonating Elon Musk, to which the Tesla CEO responded, “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.” He then cheekily added in two separate tweets: “But if she really wants her account back, she can have it. For $8.”
Kathy Griffin then tweeted from her late mother’s Twitter, with the name Elon Musk today (November 7)writing, “Elon, this is Maggie contacting you from the spirit world tell u…you’re a douchebag. This is not parody. This is the actual ghost of Kathy Griffin’s boxed wine loving mother saying I’m gonna get tipsy & throw my bingo cards at you! NOT A PARODY.
To the moon, a–hole. #FreeKathy.” The 62-year-old comedian’s page was suspended after she impersonated the social media platform’s new CEO and mocked him in a tweet.
Musk then wrote a tweet that linked out to Twitter’s current rules, which “will evolve over time.” Twitter rolled out a new update on Saturday for the app, highlighting its new paid verification system, but the company has since decided to delay its rollout until after the midterm elections, per The New York Times.
Other high-profile accounts took to the platform with jokes about Musk. See them below:
Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights
