Since Musk took over Twitter in late October, there has been a constant barrage of erratic decisions and turmoil at the company. From laying off more than half of the staff to reinstating the account of former President Trump, Musk has ruled Twitter based on what seem to be his ever-changing whims, with few checks on his decisions. Nearly all of Twitter's top executives have either been fired or quit since Musk took the reins.
Amid the chaos, major advertisers have fled the platform, just as Musk has repeatedly suggested Twitter could be on the verge of bankruptcy. But longtime analysts of the site doubt that, and suggest Musk could be floating the idea of bankruptcy as cover for his cost-cutting measures.
The confusion and disarray at Twitter had some Tesla investors fretting that Musk was too distracted to lead both companies. The electric car company accounts for most of Musk's wealth, but Twitter has been eating up Musk's schedule. Tesla shares have fallen 56% this year, with some investors suggesting Musk needed to stop trying to juggle leading both operations.
Last week, Tesla investor Ross Gerber told Tesla's board of directors to "wake up."
Gerber added in the tweet: "Who is running tesla and when is Elon coming back?"
Gerber told NPR in November that he thought Musk had made a number of mistakes since buying Twitter, but that he continued to support him.
"I'm never betting against this guy," Gerber said at the time.
A brief policy shift leads to broad outcry
Twitter announced a new policy on Sunday that took many users aback: It said tweets including links to other social media sites would no longer be allowed, calling such posts "free promotion."
The policy was quickly reversed, but not before upsetting some of Musk's most ardent supporters.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who previously voiced support for Musk's takeover of the platform, questioned the policy, saying on Twitter that it "doesn't make sense."
Others who had backed Musk's bid for Twitter appeared frustrated at the decision. Venture capitalist Paul Graham wrote of the policy, "This is the last straw. I give up."
That tweet, also explaining how people could find Graham on rival social media site Mastodon, triggered a brief suspension of his Twitter account.
Musk offered a rare apology in response to the outcry.
"Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won't happen again," Musk tweeted.
Three minutes later, Musk launched the poll asking whether it was time for him to step down as head of Twitter, and promising to abide by the poll results.
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