Elon Musk says his dog is now Twitter’s CEO – as company’s name gets quietly changed
Prior to his takeover, Elon Musk spoke of an ambition to turn Twitter into “X, the everything app”. According to a court document filed in California, and a subsequent tweet by Musk, that plan is beginning to take shape.

By Tom Acres, technology reporter

Wednesday 12 April 2023 12:31, UK

qatar airways

Listen to this article
0:00 / 3:26
1X
BeyondWords
Audio created using AI assistance
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk attends the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo/File Photo
Why you can trust Sky News
Elon Musk has said his dog has replaced him as Twitter’s chief executive after appearing to back away from a pledge to step down.

The billionaire SpaceX boss took over the day-to-day running of the social media platform after buying it for $44bn (£38bn) last October.

After a tumultuous start to his tenure, which included thousands of staff sacked and warnings from regulators, Musk appeared to commit to quitting as CEO.

He set a Twitter poll in motion last December, writing: “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.”

Reminded of the pledge during an impromptu live BBC interview on Tuesday, Musk said: “I did stand down. I keep telling you I’m not the CEO of Twitter, my dog is the CEO of Twitter.”

Musk, 51, has regularly made light of the controversy surrounding his stewardship of Twitter, and recently replaced its recognisable bird logo with the icon of cryptocurrency Dogecoin – a Shiba Inu like his dog Floki.

The “w” in Twitter was also removed from signage outside the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

MORE ON ELON MUSK
File photo dated 31/10/2013 of Elon Musk
BBC objects to Twitter’s ‘government-funded media’ label

Bob Lee. Pic: @crazybob/Twitter
Bob Lee: Elon Musk condemns ‘horrific’ fatal stabbing of Cash App founder in San Francisco

Twitter legacy verified checkmarks now indistinguishable from Twitter Blue subscribers – and people aren’t happy

Related Topics:
Elon Musk
Twitter
How Twitter worker heard job news
0:50
Play Video – How Twitter worker heard job news
How Twitter worker heard job news
Musk’s rare interview

Musk’s BBC interview was broadcast in a Twitter Spaces call, and came after the broadcaster objected to being labelled “government-funded media” on the platform.

The BBC said it was arranged at short notice and took place at the firm’s HQ.

Musk is regularly critical of media outlets, and recently removed The New York Times’ verification tick after the newspaper said it would not pay to keep it.

Accounts will soon have to be signed up to subscription service Twitter Blue to have a blue checkmark.

After numerous false starts, Musk has said legacy checkmarks will finally be removed on 20 April. Journalists are among the accounts set to be impacted.

Running Twitter ‘a rollercoaster’

Having remained CEO, Musk admitted running Twitter had been “quite a rollercoaster” – and suggested he only went through with the takeover because a judge would have forced him to.

Musk had tried to back out after making his initial offer in April 2022, prompting Twitter to sue.

He said he has around 1,500 employees left after last year’s mass lay-offs. Among those let go were engineers responsible for preventing service outages, sources told Reuters news agency.

Twitter has suffered several bugs and outages since the turn of the year, according to internet watchdog group NetBlocks, but Musk said any problems had not lasted long.

Musk also rejected claims that there had been a rise in hate speech and misinformation on Twitter.

Dex Hunter-Torricke, Head of Communications at the Oversight Board0:34
Play Video – Should Musk take Andrew Tate off Twitter?
Should Musk take Andrew Tate off Twitter?
Is a new name imminent?

The interview came as it emerged Twitter Inc no longer exists as a company.

According to a court document filed in California, it has been merged into a firm dubbed X Corp.

Musk appeared to confirm the move by tweeting an “X”.

Prior to his takeover, Musk spoke of an ambition to turn Twitter into “X, the everything app”.

The vague idea has been compared China’s WeChat, which combines features such as messaging, a marketplace, and public Twitter-style posts into one place.

Related Topics
Elon Musk
Twitter

LEAVE A REPLY