Elon Musk is polling Twitter users to ask if he should step down as head of the social media platform.
Mr Musk, one of the world’s richest people, bought Twitter for $44 billion in late October, but his short tenure has been rocky.
The Tesla and SpaceX owner launched his poll just after 11pm UK time, writing, “Should I quit Twitter head?
“I will stick to the results of this poll.”
About 20 minutes later, as the ‘yes’ votes rolled on, he added: “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.”
Just after 1am UK time, 5.5million users had voted and 57.9% said Mr Musk should stand down.
He responded to a number of user comments, saying, “The question isn’t finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”
He added, “Nobody wants the job that can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”
Another user volunteered for the post and Mr Musk replied: “You must love pain a lot.
“One catch: You have to invest all your savings in Twitter and it’s been on the fast track to bankruptcy since May.
“Do you still want the job?”
Earlier on Sunday, he declared war on Twitter’s rival social networks by banning the promotion of their accounts from his platform.
This means users could have their accounts suspended, locked or deleted if they post links to their profiles on other social media sites, including Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, as well as Donald Trump’s Mastodon and Truth Social. .
Last week, he reinstated the Twitter accounts of several journalists who had been suspended for a day over his concern about the release of public data about his plane.
The billionaire fired thousands of workers when he took office, raising concerns about the site’s crackdown on abuse and misinformation.
Last week, the site rejected its trust and safety advicea group of charities and activists who have advised site bosses on their moderation policies.
Three board members who resigned had complained that Mr Musk was creating a “two-tiered” Twitter, where paying subscribers would get more benefits than free users.
They warned that it would “take away the credibility of the system and the beauty of Twitter, the platform where everyone can be heard”.
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When he took office, Mr Musk promised to improve Twitter, rid it of fake accounts and improve free speech.
But it has lost many of its key advertisers, as concern grows over its direction – and its ability to pay the interest on the $13billion debt that Mr Musk took on to buy it.
On Saturday, the Reuters news agency revealed that Mr Musk’s team had asked investors for more funding, just days after selling an additional $3.6 billion worth of Tesla shares, meaning he sold nearly $40 billion worth of stock in its electric vehicle company this year.
