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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk is stepping down from his role at the helm of Twitter, he announced Thursday afternoon.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who is one of the world's richest people, took over the social media platform in a highly scrutinized purchase last October, when he bought it for $44 billion, took the company private and immediately implemented controversial changes. They included eliminating much of Twitter's staff, temporarily suspending some journalists from the platform and reinstating many of its previously banned users, such as Donald Trump.
Musk, who said he bought the platform to "help humanity" and make it the most respected advertising platform, has contemplated a shift in its leadership since last December, when he published a poll on Twitter asking the platform's users if he should step down as CEO. Musk promised to "abide by the results" of the survey. More than 57 percent of respondents said he should step down.
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On Thursday, Musk tweeted: "Excited to announce that I've hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops."
Twitter is undergoing a transition as it rebrands itself as X Corp. Musk didn't name the new CEO in his tweet, which had been viewed more than 2 million times as of 4 p.m. ET. Despite Thursday's news, Musk isn't expected to stray too far from Twitter and will still be a key executive.
Newsweek has reached out to Twitter by email for comment.
Musk's Thursday tweet drew a handful of responses from people claiming to be the new CEO, but Newsweek could not immediately confirm who the person is. Many people responded favorably to the shift, with some congratulating Musk and others joking that the new CEO will still be Musk but dressed as a woman.
Musk, who also is the CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, has a habit of pleasing followers, such as when he reinstated Trump's Twitter account last November.
Musk published a poll asking his followers if he should reinstate Trump. Of the more than 15 million people that responded, more than 51 percent agreed that the former president should be reinstated.
Musk agreed and reinstated Trump soon afterward, but Trump remains on his Truth Social platform and has not returned to Twitter.
Update, 05/11/2023, 5:05 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with more information and background.
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