Who Could Run Twitter? Musk’s Friends Had a Few Ideas

The question of how Elon Musk will manage Twitter if he is forced to buy it has largely been overlooked amid the legal wrangling over the $44 billion deal. But new court filings today identify a variety of people that Musk’s advisers and other associates recommended he consider for key roles, before he decided to back out of the deal in May.

Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, a former Tesla board member, recommended Musk hire former Uber executive Emil Michael to run Twitter. Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes, Musk’s main financial advisor on the deal, suggested Musk consider either Magnolia Medical Technologies Chief Financial Officer Patrick O’Malley or former Etsy and World Wrestling Entertainment CFO Kristina Salen for the role of finance chief, at least in a temporary capacity. It’s not clear how seriously Musk took any of the suggestions.

One person that Musk himself considered for a role was Oprah Winfrey, whom he floated as a candidate for the board, messages show.