Elon Musk has revealed that he has identified a new chief executive to head Twitter.
The announcement was made by Musk on the social media platform, which he acquired last year for $44 billion.
Although he did not disclose the identity of the incoming CEO, Musk stated that “she” would assume the role in six weeks.
But what is known is that this individual is a woman.
If Mr Musk has indeed appointed a female executive, it would make her one of the few women to reach the top of a major technology company.
Women accounted for fewer than 10% of chief executives of tech firms included in America’s 500 biggest companies last year.
Musk himself will transition to the positions of executive chairman and chief technology officer.
The decision to appoint a new leader comes amid mounting pressure on Musk to delegate Twitter’s management responsibilities and concentrate on his other ventures.
Last year, after Twitter users voted for him to step down in an online poll, he said: “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive.”
However, although Mr Musk had said he would hand over the reins, it was by no means clear when or even if it would happen.
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
Tesla shares rose after the announcement. Mr Musk has previously been accused by shareholders of abandoning Tesla after his takeover of Twitter and damaging the car company’s brand.
“We ultimately view this as a major step forward with Musk finally reading the room that has been around this Twitter nightmare,” Dan Ives from the investment firm Wedbush Securities said.
“Trying to balance Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX as CEOs [is] an impossible task that needed to change,” Mr Ives added.
According to two US media reports, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising Linda Yaccarino was in talks to become the chief executive of Twitter. The Wall Street Journal and Variety cited people familiar with the matter.
Although Mr Musk has talked about paid subscribers to Twitter Blue, it is advertising that brings in the vast majority of revenue at Twitter.
The new boss will no doubt seek to improve relationships with advertisers, and smooth their fears over content moderation.
Mr Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, has said he took over Twitter to protect free speech. However, advertisers do not want their content next to misinformation or extremist content.
He purchased Twitter in October only after a lawsuit forced him to go through with the deal. Upon taking charge, Mr Musk controversially fired thousands of staff in a bid to cut costs at the firm, which has struggled to be profitable.
In March, Mr Musk said those efforts had paid off and the platform’s finances were improving.