Elon Musk Says He Has a New C.E.O. for Twitter

Elon Musk mentioned on Thursday that he had chosen a chief govt for Twitter and that he would stay concerned as the corporate’s govt chair, as he continued to remake the social media service.

Mr. Musk didn’t identify the brand new chief govt. In a tweet, he mentioned “she will be starting in ~6 weeks!” He added that he would nonetheless oversee Twitter’s product and software program as “CTO” — chief expertise officer.

Mr. Musk didn’t present different particulars and didn’t reply to an emailed request for remark. In the previous, he has made guarantees about what he would do at Twitter and his different corporations that he has not adopted via on.

Mr. Musk, who purchased Twitter for $44 billion final 12 months, will retain a agency grip on the corporate whether or not he names a chief govt or not. As Twitter’s proprietor, he has put his stamp on it by eliminating greater than 75 p.c of its 7,500 workers, putting in his personal leaders and altering the service’s options and technique. He additionally took Twitter non-public, which implies he doesn’t must disclose company info to the general public.

Mr. Musk raised the concept of a chief govt for Twitter in December after he was criticized for a few of his selections on the firm. He ran a ballot on Twitter on the time asking if he ought to step down as the top of the corporate. “I will abide by the results of the poll,” he wrote.

More than 17 million votes have been solid within the ballot, with some 58 p.c of respondents saying they have been in favor of him stepping down as chief govt. In February, whereas talking at a convention in Dubai, Mr. Musk mentioned he was aiming to call a brand new Twitter chief govt by the tip of 2023.

Twitter’s employees weren’t notified of a brand new chief govt earlier than Mr. Musk’s tweet, in accordance with two workers.

Any new chief govt is about to inherit a litany of challenges at Twitter. The firm faces a sagging promoting enterprise, which has been its important income, in addition to debt funds of about $1.5 billion a 12 months from the sale to Mr. Musk. At an investor convention in March, he mentioned Twitter had skilled a 50 p.c decline in advert income and had been on the trail to chapter inside months.

Last month, in an interview with the BBC, Mr. Musk mentioned that almost all of Twitter’s advertisers had returned.

Mr. Musk has additionally been below strain from traders at his different corporations — notably the electrical carmaker Tesla — to maneuver away from day-to-day administration of Twitter, which they’ve thought to be a distraction. Shares of Tesla, which have been little modified for many of the day, jumped after Mr. Musk’s tweet, rising about 2 p.c within the remaining minutes of buying and selling on Thursday.

Mr. Musk has beforehand ceded some management obligations at his different corporations. At SpaceX, his non-public rocket producer, he has delegated a lot of the operating of the agency to Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief working officer. That has freed Mr. Musk to give attention to engineering and product selections, and to maneuver amongst his numerous corporations.