Twitter Should Make Musk CEO

Question: When will Elon Musk get himself appointed CEO of Twitter? It has been only a few days since he joined the board, after buying 9% of the company, but already Twitter has arranged for him to talk to employees in a question-and-answer session, as The Washington Post reported. That’s an extraordinary move for Twitter to make. It’s hard to imagine the same thing happening with ordinary activist investors, such as Starboard Value or Elliott Management. But then again, Musk isn’t an ordinary activist investor. Most of them just want to make some money. 

Musk has sent all sorts of signals implying he wants to be in charge of Twitter, from polling Twitter users about their views of company policies and product features to musing to people on phone calls that maybe he should buy the company. Now he’s going to talk to staff. You can see how this will play out over the next few weeks. Musk clearly has the clout to get his way on things at Twitter. CEO Parag Agrawal, after all, is essentially a hired hand, whereas Musk is the biggest shareholder. So unless the company makes Musk CEO, we’re in for months of media leaks detailing all the ways he’s pulling the strings at the company, which won’t be fun for Agrawal, his management team or the rest of the board. (Reporters and Musk, though, may enjoy it).