Twitter users have voted for Elon Musk to step down as CEO of the social media platform after he himself posted a poll calling on users to decide his future. The poll attracted 17.5 million responses with 57.5% of users in favour of him stepping down. 

Musk has stated that he would abide by the result, but has given no details as to the when and how. Musk has indicated to a Delaware court last month that he had planned to reduce his time at Twitter and find a new leader for the company. 

The tech mogul has had a slew of controversial moments since his purchase of the company, with the most recent being the banning of several journalists who promoted alternative social media platforms. This drew condemnation from news organisations, advocacy groups, and several officials across Europe.

There has been some good news for Musk as the share price of his motoring company, Tesla, rose by about 5% in pre-market trading after the poll. 

Tesla investors have been worried that Musk has been spread too thin since the Twitter deal. Tesla shares lost almost 60% of their value this year alone, but this isn’t simply a reflection of Musk’s antics outside of Tesla. The company has been battling supply chain issues and increasing competition in the electric vehicle market.

Wedbush analyst, Dan Ives, said, “It appears Musk’s reign as CEO of Twitter will come to an end and thus be a major positive for Tesla’s stock, starting to slowly remove this albatross from the story… Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk.”

After the poll’s result, Musk tweeted, “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.”