Elon Musk's Twitter Activity is Slowing Down

Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter Inc. and formerly the world's wealthiest individual, has devoted a great deal of his time, energy, and money to the most popular social media platform on the web over the past two months. However, it appears that Musk is now beginning to tire.

On Tuesday night, he declared his intention to appoint a new leader for the organization. This decision was based on the outcome of his own Twitter survey, which revealed that nearly 58% of participants wanted him to resign.

For the duration of the 12-hour period that the poll was open, Elon Musk tweeted continuously, appearing to be a man who was exhausted and doubtful that the company he had purchased for $44 billion only two months prior could remain operational.

Lex Fridman, an AI researcher and podcaster, proposed to take on the role of CEO for Twitter, to which Elon Musk replied that Fridman "must like pain a lot." This conversation began shortly after a poll was started on Sunday afternoon, and the main issue at hand was not finding a CEO, but rather finding one who could keep Twitter alive.

He continued, "The only downside is that you would have to put your entire life savings into Twitter, which has been on a downward spiral since May. Are you still interested in the job?"

Musk recently joined Twitter Spaces, the social media platform's live audio service, and discussed the financial strain the company was under. He revealed that Twitter was expecting a negative cash flow of around $3 billion in the upcoming year due to their spending and interest payments, so he had been working hard to reduce costs. He believes that the company should be able to reach a cash flow breakeven point in the next year, but he acknowledged that it would be a difficult task.

Throughout his time in the public eye, Elon Musk has been an active user of Twitter, often stirring up controversy. He has been known to challenge the media, share confidential information from his employees, and even weigh in on the reinstatement of former President Donald Trump's account. Recently, he has even discussed the possibility of his own assassination. Musk has a knack for becoming the center of attention on Twitter, even when he doesn't mean to, such as when he was booed at Dave Chapelle's show in San Francisco this past month.

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in late October, it appears that the platform's user growth has been on the rise. This could be attributed to people wanting to stay up to date with Musk's latest activities. It's almost like the effect of President Trump's presidency, except he would take a break to play golf every once in a while.

Leading Twitter is an incredibly demanding job, requiring the making of decisions that have a major impact on international political conversations one moment, and then determining the product vision the next. Former CEO Dick Costolo likened it to "dog years" - he stated that a single year of running Twitter was equivalent to seven years of managing some other company.

Since Musk has taken control of the company, his decisions have caused a lot of discussion and often led to him changing his mind. Those who have worked with him in the past two months have described him as impulsive, unpredictable, and not ready to handle the issues Twitter faces, such as managing online speech and a user base that is very vocal about the company. Despite having months to prepare for his ownership of Twitter, it appears that Musk did not have a plan when he arrived.

It is clear that Elon Musk's approach to Twitter's business has had a negative effect. At the start of the year, the company was profitable, but by early November, it was losing $4 million a day, according to Musk. His own behavior has caused advertisers to be wary of the platform; he has tweeted false information, made inappropriate jokes, and allowed fake accounts to be verified as major brands.

The debt Musk took on to purchase the company has resulted in an estimated $1.2 billion in yearly payments for Twitter, which could potentially put the company in the "fast lane to bankruptcy," as Musk has stated.

It is possible that Elon Musk's lack of time is a contributing factor to the issues Twitter is facing. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of leadership studies and management at Yale who has followed Musk's career, commented that "We are seeing somebody who is a technological genius who is at the end of his tether — he's overstretched." Former CEO Jack Dorsey had to deal with activist investors due to his dual roles, while Musk has at least three jobs and other activities that take up his time.

Tesla Inc., the most valuable asset of its owner, has experienced a significant decline. Its stock has dropped by over 60% in 2020, with an 8.1% decrease on Tuesday.

Sonnenfeld noted that Musk has been both impulsive and self-destructive during his tenure at Twitter, which has caused a decrease in trust from advertisers. To divert attention away from the issues, Musk has employed the same tactics he has used at his other companies, making promises that are never fulfilled but still leave people with a sense of hope. Sonnenfeld stated, “From flame throwers to leaf blowers, he’s in the business of distraction. With Twitter, he’s flailing about worse than ever, like a wounded animal in the corner.”

The departure of Musk as CEO of Twitter has created a sense of uncertainty for the company. It is possible that Twitter will find a more reliable and consistent leader who can attract back advertisers and implement well-thought-out content policies. The idea of taking Twitter private was to allow the company to make changes without the pressures of Wall Street. Similarly, having a CEO who is a well-known and controversial figure may also be avoided to avoid the public scrutiny.

Identifying the ideal leader is essential, and Musk's tweets about potential bankruptcy imply that Twitter is running out of time to make a decision. Some of Musk's followers think the poll was part of his grand scheme, but Musk himself implied otherwise. He tweeted on Sunday, "No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor."

Twitter has experienced a significant decrease in its workforce, so the idea of a "mystery" CEO may be just as perplexing as leaving Elon Musk in charge. Musk has discovered the difficulty of managing Twitter, yet he has also made the company more popular than ever. With Musk at the helm, Twitter has that advantage.

It appears that Elon Musk will remain involved with Twitter, offering assistance with software and servers. He jokingly stated that he will stay on as long as he can find someone "foolish enough" to take on the role of leadership.