Musk's 5 biggest controversies as Twitter CEO - from disability spat to Ukraine
Billionaire mogul Elon Musk announced on Thursday he has appointed a new Twitter CEO.
The full details of the appointment have not yet been released, but the world's richest man said the new CEO is female and would start in six weeks' time.
The Tesla billionaire, who bought the social media site for $44billion last year, said he will become the executive chairman and chief technology officer.
Musk, 51, said on Twitter: "Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
"My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops."
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The announcement will bring an end to the mega-rich American's tenure as CEO, which was wracked by controversy and strange moments.
The new CEO will start in six weeks (Getty Images)We have taken a look at some of the most controversial moments.
'State-affiliated media'
Musk's Twitter caused a backlash among major news organisations when he named them as 'state-affiliated' media.
This move included the likes of the BBC and NPR.
NPR said it was supported by its listeners and the labelling was "unacceptable" as comparisons were drawn to labels given to the likes of Russia Today.
Russia Today is controlled by Vladimir Putin's Russia and essentially acts as the mouthpiece of the Kremlin.
The BBC said it was "funded by the British public through the license fee", but Twitter did not give a description of what it considers to be 'government funded' and this label was later removed.
The BBC tag was later removed (Getty Images)In a response to a tweet by NPR that said it produces "independent journalism" Musk quote tweeted a picture of NPR's site that said it received federal funding.
He also said: "What have you got against the truth NPR?"
NPR operates a mixed-funding model and says it relies on sponsorships, fees paid by members and donations.
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The news outlet left the site and said Twitter was "taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent".
The statement added: "We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public's understanding of our editorial independence."
Disability spat
Haraldur Thorleifsson was one of the hundreds of people who suddenly found himself faced with looking for a new job as Musk wielded the axe on Twitter's employees.
Thorleifsson asked Musk: "[Nine] days ago the access to my work computer was cut, along with about 200 other Twitter employees. However your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am an employee or not.
"You've not answered my emails. Maybe if enough people retweet you'll answer me here?"
Musk responded: "The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm.
"Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that."
Musk was forced to backpedal and a note on the tweet now says Musk spoke to Thorleifsson and "admitted that he was wrong".
He said at the time: "I would like to apologise to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation.
"It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter."
The war in Ukraine
Musk has publically backed negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to put an end to the war after Putin's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
He outlined a plan for peace with four main points in a tweet.
Musk argued Russia should "Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people."
Russia illegally annexed four regions of Ukraine last year (AFP via Getty Images)In September last year, Russia illegally annexed the four regions of Zaporizhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk using sham referenda.
The UN said the annexations were a "dangerous escalation" that "has no place in the modern world" and could not be accepted.
The move raised concerns about the possibility of an escalation, the Kremlin outlining its nuclear redlines as when Russian territory was attacked.
By falsely claiming the four regions were now part of Russia, fears were heightened. Putin would use this as an excuse to launch nuclear weapons.
Musk also argued for the following: "Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake)...
"Water supply to Crimea assured.... Ukraine remains neutral."
President Zelensky did a poll of his own in response to Musk's proposal (Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images)He put forward his proposals attached to a Twitter poll and 59 per cent of respondents rejected the ideas.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation".
Kyiv’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, told Musk to "f**k off".
In response, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted a poll of his one and asked: "Which Elon Musk do you like more[?]"
An option for "one who supports Ukraine" received 78 per cent of the vote against 21 per cent who said, "one who supports Russia".
Musk responded: “I still very much support Ukraine, but am convinced that massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly the world.”
SpaceX is important for Ukraine's fight against Russia (NurPhoto via Getty Images)The billionaire's poll drew criticism from those troubled by the idea that Musk could withdraw the support given by his company SpaceX, which allowed Ukraine to use its Starlink satellites.
In a generous move, SpaceX gave 20,000 of the satellites to Ukraine as Russia attacked its infrastructure, allowing Ukrainian forces to continue to communicate.
Musk has insisted that Stalink is for "peaceful use only" and restricted access to it in February so Ukraine could not use it to control drones.
'Prosecute Fauci' pronouns
In December last year, Musk made an apparent reference to Dr Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who became the face of the fight against Covid in the US.
Musk mocked the debate around asking people to advertise their correct gender pronouns by tweeting 'Prosecute/Fauci'.
Dr Fauci, the former chief medical adviser to the President and from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he still has security protection because of demands by some conspiracy theorists, some Republican figures and Musk for him to be arrested.
Dr Fauci says he still has personal protection (Getty)The medical expert received backlash from some for advocating the use of vaccines virus and the introduction of some social restrictions such as masks.
“There’s no response for that craziness. I mean, prosecute for what? What are they talking about?” he told CNN in March. “I wish I could figure out what the heck they are talking about I think they’re just going off the deep end.”
Musk's tweet, controversial for its mockery of pronouns considered important by members of the LGBTQIA+ community, earned him the wrath of his former partner Grimes.
The Canadian singer appealed to Musk and said: "I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn't your heart."
One of Musk's daughters is transgender and she has dropped their shared surname as she did not want to "be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form".
The return of Donald Trump
Donald Trump was banned from Twitter in the wake of the January 6 riots at the Capitol in 2021.
The former president repeatedly used the social media platform to spout baseless claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Trump set up his own platform, Truth Social (zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx)During the riots, many of Trump's supporters burst into the Capitol as Congress was conducting the formal confirmation of Joe Biden as president.
Trump has not yet returned to the site after the ban was lifted in November last year.
Insiders told the BBC in March that they felt unable to protect people from disinformation by authoritarian states, child exploitation and abusive trolling.
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