More than 10 million votes, or 57.5%, were in favor of Musk stepping down, according to results Monday morning. Kasturi committed to follow up on the results when she launched the survey, but about a day later she had tweeted more than 10 times without directly addressing the results. Musk responded to a tweet that suggested the poll could be manipulated by bots with one word: “Interesting.”
Announcing a new policy in his first tweet after the poll, Musk said that Twitter would restrict voting on major policy decisions to paying Blue customers.
Responding to a Blue member named Unfiltered Boss, Musk agreed with the suggestion that only customers should have a voice in future policy and said, “Twitter will make that change.” The New York Times reported that Twitter Blue had attracted nearly 140,000 subscribers as of November 15.
Earlier, the billionaire promised to put all future policy decisions in the form of a vote and offered Twitter users a choice on leadership, asking them if they would like the top leadership position at the company he bought for $44 billion in October. Should move away from the position.
Musk’s dramatic offer came shortly after attending the World Cup final match in Florida, triggering a wave of trending topics such as “vote yes” and “CEO of Twitter.” He did not identify an alternative leader and even said that no one capable of doing the job would want it.
Musk has warned that Twitter is in danger of bankruptcy and has set up a “hardcore” work environment for the remaining workers after massive downsizing. In less than two months under him, he scared off advertisers, alienated Twitter’s most ardent creators and transformed the service from a reflection of the day’s news to a mainstream one.
After losing the initial poll, Musk, who is also the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc, retweeted promotional material for the car company and Twitter’s Blue for Business service. He responded to an article about rival Toyota Motor Corp’s criticism of electric vehicles with a simple “wow”.
The stock of Tesla, Musk’s by far most valuable holding, has fallen since its acquisition of Twitter and critics have argued he is spending too much time at the social media company.