Former T-Mobile CEO John Legere offered to run Twitter in place of Elon Musk, pleading with the billionaire Sunday to let someone else take control of the company.
“Hi @elonmusk, maybe I should run @twitter,” Legere tweeted. “You can stop managing daily business, and ‘content moderation’ and then support product/technology, let someone else “run” @Twitter. I’m expensive but so is what you paid for Twitter.”
The former executive also urged Musk to “please be [a] leadership example of how to tweet,” likely pointing to the new Twitter chief’s questionable behavior on the platform, including blocking a top marketer who questioned the platform’s retreat from content moderation.
Despite support for Legere’s takeover from some users, Musk shot down the businessman’s offer with a swift “No,” later explaining the company needs a “technologist” to oversee the company’s growth.
After seeing the Twitter boss’ rejection, Legere asked Musk to “please consider the free advice included in my suggestion.” “I believe @twitter can be the marketplace for transparent free speech AND a profitable growth company,” he said. “That will require vision but also leadership and management.”
“I like both you and Mike!” Musk said later, referring to Legere’s successor Mike Sievert, who took over as CEO after Sprint and T-Mobile merged. “It’s just that Twitter at its core is a software & servers company. The technology needs to evolve rapidly, which requires a technologist.”
Musk also notified users of a new feature Sunday morning, in which brands will be able to identify accounts associated with them to reduce concerns of impersonation.
Legere’s offer comes days after the FTC said it is tracking Twitter with “deep concern,” as top security executives — including Yoel Roth, the company’s head of trust and safety — sent in their resignations.
“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” an FTC spokesperson told The Hill. “No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them.”