Elon Musk says there is no successor if he were to step down as Twitter CEO: 'No one wants the job'

• Elon Musk said there was no successor if he were to step down as Twitter CEO.
• Twitter has to find a boss who is able to keep the social-media platform "alive," he said.

Elon Musk on Sunday said there was no successor to take over Twitter if he were to step down as CEO.

In response to a Twitter user who assumed Musk had already chosen a new leader, the billionaire wrote in a tweet that "no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive." He added that he had no successor in the pipeline.

He made the comments the same day that he tweeted a poll asking his followers if he should step down as the head of Twitter. After posting the poll, he said he would "abide by the results."

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By the time the poll had closed on Monday, 57.5% of respondents voted in favor of him stepping down as Twitter's CEO.

Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours.

Musk has previously spoken about how he had to sell some Tesla stock to "save Twitter," according to a transcript of a Twitter meeting obtained by The Verge. He told employees Twitter was in a "dire situation from a revenue standpoint" and the platform urgently needed to increase subscriptions because of an upcoming and "serious recession."

It was unclear who could replace Musk if he stepped down as head of Twitter. Musk told a Delaware judge in November he planned to reduce his time at Twitter and find a new boss for the company over time, according to an Axios report.

In further tweets on Sunday, Musk said: "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive." He added, "be careful what you wish, as you might get it."

"Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it," Musk then tweeted.

Musk officially acquired Twitter 53 days ago. Since then, thousands of employees have left, some new features have been launched and revoked, and various celebrities have quit the platform. Now, there could be a change of leadership.