Elon Musk reveals Twitter CEO plan

Musk said he has 'too much on my plate' as he's also running Tesla and SpaceX

Twitter CEO Elon Musk revealed his plans about whether he’ll continue to helm the social media company in the future during testimony Wednesday in the trial over his Tesla compensation package.

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Musk, testifying on the stand in the Delaware Court of Chancery, said he expects to "reduce my time at Twitter" and "find somebody else to run" the social media company "over time," according to the Wall Street Journal. He reportedly also acknowledged that much of his time has been dedicated to Twitter since he acquired it in late October, though he expressed expectations it would not be that way long-term.

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The Tesla CEO’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter came after a lengthy legal battle that involved the same court and judge that Musk was testifying before on Wednesday, giving him and the social media company an Oct. 28 deadline to complete it. Since taking over, he has made major changes to Twitter, such as laying off about 50% of its workforce and launching a verification badge purchasable for $8 per month.

Elon Musk with the Twitter logo

Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday revealed his plans about whether he’ll continue to helm the social media company in the future during his testimony in the trial over his Tesla compensation package. (Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency/Photo illustration / Getty Images)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the opening of the Tesla factory in Gruenheide, Germany, on March 22, 2022. (Patrick Pleul/Pool via AP/File / AP Newsroom)

While appearing virtually at a conference earlier in the week, Musk said that his workload "has recently increased quite a lot" and that he has "too much on my plate, that is for sure." In addition to serving as CEO of Twitter and Tesla, he also helms SpaceX and co-founded OpenAI, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

TWITTER CEO SAYS HIS WORKLOAD IS ‘NOT SOMETHING I'D RECOMMEND'

Musk tweeted Monday morning that he had "been at Twitter SF HQ all night" and "will be working & sleeping here until org is fixed." Twitter’s "fundamental organizational restructuring" is expected to be finished soon, he testified Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Reuters/Michele Tantussi/File / Reuters Photos)

Musk’s testimony is part of the trial that kicked off Monday for a lawsuit filed by Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta in 2018. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate and rescind his compensation plan at the electric vehicle maker.

ELON MUSK IN COURT OVER FAT TESLA PAY PACKAGE

The Tesla pay package, potentially worth more than $55 billion, awarded Musk a 10-year grant of stock options that vest over 12 tranches, dependent on the electric vehicle company meeting specific market capitalization and operational benchmarks, according to a proxy statement. For each tranche, the CEO receives the equivalent of about 1% of Tesla’s stock in options.

The trial is expected to last the rest of the week.