Elon Musk will step down as Twitter’s chief executive after he finds someone “foolish” enough to replace him, he said Tuesday.
In a tweet, Musk said he will remain at the company to run its software and servers teams.
The comments came two days after Musk posted an informal poll on the social media site asking users if he should step down from the position and promising to abide by the results.
Out of more than 17.5 million votes cast, 57.5 percent voted in favor of Musk’s resignation. Roughly 42 percent were against the move.
Musk, whose acquisition of the company for $44 billion was finalized in October, said in court last month that he expected to reduce his time at Twitter and find someone else to run it “over time.”
After posting the poll, Musk tweeted: “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”
The announcement came amid a barrage of criticism over Musk’s management of the company, which has seen mass layoffs, the suspension of journalists and a policy that barred users from posting links to other social media platforms.
Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” later apologized for the link policy, saying major changes wouldn’t happen at the company without a vote.
Three minutes later, he asked users if he should resign.
Chantal Da Silva contributed.
