Arguably the world’s second richest man – but unarguably the world’s largest troll – Elon Musk has launched a poll on Twitter to determine whether or not he should remain working as the social media giant’s Chief Executive Officer.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
And Musk says he’ll abide by the results of the poll, which at the time of press had more than nine million votes, and was 57 per cent in favour of Musk firing himself, with just 43 per cent hoping he stays.
The stunt smells suspiciously like Musk trying to ‘gracefully’ exit his $44 billion investment, given the impact it’s likely having on his other operations – SpaceX and Tesla. Perhaps to muddy the waters a little, he tweeted this, shortly after launching his poll:
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
But a graceful exit for Musk already seems to late, after a slew of criticism
Several months ago, Musk used Twitter to promote a false conspiracy theory a hammer attack on the husband of US politician Nancy Pelosi may have been from a male sex worker who Mr Pelosi hired. He later deleted the tweet, but this month, as if to underscore his own hypocrisy, Musk suspended a Twitter account which he said put his family at risk by divulging his real-time locations.
As you might expect, the poll has brought other trolls out of the woodwork, with some amusing results. A user called ‘Sheldon Morley’ deserves the prize for the smartest response to Musk’s poll, launching one of his own:
Should Michael get a free Tesla?
— Some Guy on Tw*tter (@sheldonmorley) December 19, 2022