Speculation is swirling among Twitter staff that The Boring Company CEO Steve Davis could replace Elon Musk as the chief executive of Twitter, according to a recent report from Platformer.
The publication said that Davis helped orchestrate a round of layoffs at the social media company that impacted about 200 people this week. Ahead of the layoffs, the executive at Musk’s tunnel company called Twitter managers and asked them to identify “exceptional” employees, Platformer reported. Davis’ role in the layoffs has caused employees across “all levels” of the company to theorize that he will replace Musk as Twitter CEO, per Platformer.
A spokesperson for Twitter did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication. Davis could not be reached for comment.
Since he took over in October, Musk has more than halved Twitter’s workforce.
At the same time, Davis has become increasingly involved at Twitter. In December, The Information reported that The Boring Company CEO had been told to find ways to cut about $500 million in operating costs at Twitter. He ended up slashing about $1 billion by terminating some contracts with outside companies and negotiating others down, per The Information.
The Information also reported that Davis had taken a page out of Musk’s playbook and was one of the first employees to start sleeping at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco in October. The Boring Company CEO spent the first few weeks after his baby was born sleeping in a makeshift bedroom in the office, along with his newborn and partner, according to the report.
Davis became the chief executive of Musk’s tunnel construction company in 2019. Musk founded the company about three years prior with a vision of creating a network of high-speed tunnels, known as a Hyperloop. Before he became CEO of The Boring Company, Davis worked with Musk at SpaceX. The two men have worked together since 2003, per The Information.
The billionaire has been hunting for a new Twitter CEO for months. In December, Musk tweeted a poll asking users if he should step down from his role at the social media company and saying he’d abide by the results of the poll. When voting closed, 57.5% of voters said he should resign, but Musk said at the time that “there is no successor” to him currently.
Musk — who ousted Twitter’s former CEO, Parag Agrawal, within hours of taking the company private — has said he plans to step back from the social media company over time after an “initial burst of activity” to reorganize it.
Tesla investors have been calling for Musk to turn his attention back to the electric-car maker. Tesla’s stock has fallen over 37% since he announced his plans to buy the social media company on April 14.
