Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is easily one of the most influential CEOs in the world. His influence even grew stronger after he became the largest shareholder of Twitter. In his first move as Twitter’s largest shareholder, Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter last night. The poll is calling for users to vote whether or not they want an edit button on Twitter. In less than 12 hours, the post already has over 2.5 million votes. Furthermore, presently, 73.5% of the voters want an edit button while 26.5% do not.
The survey is not representative and nothing directly follows from it. However, Elon Musk’s new status automatically provides him with better hearing with the Twitter management. Until now, the company has remained indifferent to the long-standing requirements of users to be able to edit already written and published posts. Meanwhile, Musk kept to himself about his plans with Twitter.
The fact that he reported his acquired stake in the company to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Form 13G, according to DPA, means that he is not seeking an active influence on its business policy or a seat on the supervisory board. In that case, he would have to fill out a 13D form. Shares of Twitter still gained more than 27 percent at the end of Monday’s trading after the announcement. However, top Twitter executives are already making a decent push by the poll.
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Twitter’s CEO responds to the poll
According to Parag Agrawal, Twitter CEO, “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” With this statement, there is a possibility that the result of the poll will make some changes.
Even before buying Twitter shares, Musk called the social network a public space for debate. He claims that Twitter is undermining democracy and asked his 80 million followers what to do with it.
On March 14, the founder of Tesla bought a total of 73,486,938 Twitter shares. These shares are equivalent to 9.2%. This share makes him one of the company’s largest shareholders. For example, founder Jack Dorsey owns only 2.25%, the BBC said. The company’s shares strengthened in the market, thanks to the purchase. Before the start of trading on the stock exchange on Monday, their value rose by about 25%, and one share is sold for almost $ 50.
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. Musk is a regular user with over 80 million followers.
