Elon Musk will have the last laugh

It ended, as many things do these days, with a poll. Apparently on a whim, Elon Musk, while attending the World Cup final in Qatar on 18 December, tweeted: ‘Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.’ Seventeen-and-a-half million people voted, and nearly sixty per cent demonstrated their belief that, yes, the days of the Musk regime on Twitter should come to an ignominious end.

Given that Musk’s schtick on the social media platform has been to offer democracy to its users – all the while making sure that he remains in charge – it appears to be a binding obligation, and the business pages (and stock market) have reacted to the poll’s result as if it is hard news. But what does it tell us about Musk and his quixotic, or simply absurd, attitude towards business?

You don’t become the wealthiest man on the planet by being an idiot, and Musk is anything but a fool.