Musk declines former tech CEO's offer to run Twitter for him
Former T-Mobile CEO John Legere offered to 'run' Twitter's day-to-day operations while Elon Musk can focus on product and technology
Barron's senior writer Al Root weighs in on Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition and how that will impact the rest of his business empire on ‘Barron’s Roundtable.’
New Twitter owner Elon Musk curtly declined an offer by the former CEO of T-Mobile to "run" his new social media platform.
John Legere, who helmed T-Mobile for seven years before stepping away from the company in 2020, tweeted that Musk could support product and technology while Legere manages the day-to-day operations.
"I’m expensive but so is what you paid for twitter," Legere tweeted.
"No," Musk responded, before following up by saying that "Twitter at its core is a software & servers company" and the "technology needs to evolve rapidly, which requires a technologist."
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk walks next to a screen showing an image of Tesla Model 3 car during an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China. (REUTERS/Aly Song//File Photo / Reuters Photos)
After the rejection, Legere asked Musk to "please consider" his "free advice."
"I believe [Twitter] can be the marketplace for transparent free speech AND a profitable growth company. That will require vision but also leadership and management," Legere tweeted.
Musk, who closed his $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter last month, has shaken up the company's top brass, immediately firing former CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. A slew of other executives have exited the company in recent days, including Yoel Roth, the former head of trust and safety at the platform.
The Twitter logo is seen on a sign on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, on October 28, 2022. (CONSTANZA HEVIA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The Tesla CEO has also rolled out other changes, launching a revamped premium service in which users can pay $8 a month to receive a verified blue check and other benefits.
That service was temporarily offline over the weekend as Twitter dealt with a deluge of imposter accounts, including of Eli Lilly & Co., Nintendo, Lockheed Martin, and others.