Elon Musk looks set to step down from Twitter after he asked followers whether he should quit in a poll.
The Tesla billionaire launched the 12-hour ballot on his page on Sunday night at 11.20pm asking: "Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll."
Mr Musk tweeted along with the options "Yes" or "No."
He lost the damning poll, which would potentially see Musk stepping down as CEO of Twitter, but it's thought the mogul would still retain ownership of the company.
Around 57 per cent of 17.5million voters had said that Mr Musk should resign as Twitter chief executive with 43 per cent saying he should stay with around three hours to go before the poll closed.
Mr Musk launched the Twitter poll on Sunday night after watching Argentina beat France in the World Cup final in Qatar.
It was unclear whether Mr Musk would respect the results and actually step down if that was the choice. Last week he removed a poll on reinstating the accounts of suspended journalists before it had concluded.
After launching the poll, the billionaire Tesla boss also tweeted that people should be careful what they wish for, but denied that he has already selected his potential replacement.
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,” Mr Musk said.
Overnight, Mr Musk also liked a Tweet reading: “When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus. – Turkish proverb.”
It was not immediately clear whether this was aimed towards his Twitter poll.
Experts believe any announcement of his resignation is linked to Twitter damaging his "golden child", the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at US investment firm Wedbush Securities, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Musk should return back to his strengths.
He said: "The last few weeks, few months, [have] been a black eye for Musk and a black eye for Tesla, and I think ultimately that’s the golden child: that 90% plus of his wealth.
"And that’s why I think the writing's on the wall, and I think ultimately in the next 24 hours, Musk will probably name a temporary CEO of Twitter.
"He can build rockets and create electric cars. That’s why he is who he is. But when it comes to social media and to Twitter, I think this is a different type of animal, and he’s realised he can’t balance this as well as Tesla and SpaceX."
However, in a series of previous tweets he believed there was "no successor" in line to take over if the poll returns a "Yes" result.
He wrote: "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.
"No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it."
Mr Musk faced criticism for announcing a U-turn on a new policy which banned users from linking to certain rival social media websites, including Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.
He wrote on Twitter the policy would be "adjusted" to only suspending accounts "when that account's primary purpose is promotion of competitors", adding: "Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won't happen again."
Musk also came under fire from officials in Brussels for kicking off a series of journalists covering the billionaire off the platform.
European Commissioner Vera Jourova said that the suspensions were "worrying" and that EU law protects media freedom.
Many of those accounts were later restored following an online poll by Mr Musk.
Last week, Musk's plans for a revamped Twitter were revealed after a chaotic start to his time directing the company.
One element was the rolling out of Twitter Blue, a premium paid-for subscription that would award users a blue tick - a marking on the account which was once reserved for official figures, celebrities and organisations.
