Elon Musk Says He Will Run Twitter ‘Until It Is in a Strong Place’

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, on March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/Pool via AP

Billionaire Elon Musk, who recently acquired Twitter, has indicated that he is open to the company being led by another person.

While testifying at a Delaware court defending his $56 billion pay package at Tesla Inc. on Wednesday, Musk revealed that he intends to cut down his time at Twitter and eventually find someone else to head the social media network, according to Reuters.

The billionaire later confirmed that the change in leadership is not something imminent.

“I will continue to run Twitter until it is in a strong place, which will take some time,” Musk said in a Nov. 17 post.

Musk said he plans on completing Twitter’s organizational restructuring by the end of the week. Investors at Tesla have been concerned about Musk spending too much time dealing with the social media platform.

During his testimony, the Tesla founder said that his current time spent at Twitter is only an “initial burst of activity needed post-acquisition to reorganize the company.”

A few engineers at Tesla are also assisting him to evaluate Twitter’s engineering team, something which is happening “after hours” and on a “voluntary basis,” Musk added.

While speaking at the recent Business 20 conference in Indonesia, Musk admitted that he was running Tesla’s global operations with “great difficulty.”

“I have too much work on my plate, that’s for sure. … I’m really working the absolute most that I can work—from morning to night, seven days a week. This is not something I’d recommend, frankly,” he said.

Firing Employees, Facing Pressure

After taking over Twitter, Musk laid off a large portion of its 7,500-member global workforce. The company was losing more than $4 million every day.

Though multiple staff members have sued the company, Musk defended the decision by pointing out that every person who was terminated was given three months of severance pay, which is 50 percent more than what is legally required.

Twitter is facing pressure from several quarters. Multiple companies, including Volkswagen and Pfizer Inc., have announced that they want to cancel advertising on the platform.

Some have raised concerns that Musk might relax content moderation rules on the platform. Musk has said that he will ensure freedom of speech on the platform, but that the network will not be a place where people can say anything without consequences.

During a recent press conference, President Joe Biden indicated that Musk’s “cooperation and/or technical relationships” with other nations might be looked into. Musk’s Twitter purchase was partially financed by Saudi Arabian investors.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced on Nov. 10 that the agency is tracking the developments at Twitter “with deep concern.”