Is Elon Musk’s Management Bad? Well, Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates has a Word

Bill Gates questioned Elon Musk's management style calling it a "seat-of-the-pants" approach

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has offered his views on Elon Musk's management style on Twitter and said that Elon Musk has adopted a "seat-of-the-pants" style approach to decision making at Twitter. The Microsoft co-founder told Financial Times in an interview Tuesday that Musk's management style could increase polarisation on the platform. Musk may have planned some of the features before completing the acquisition in late October, but over the last few weeks, he's been relying on Twitter polls for some key changes. Since taking command of microblogging site Twitter late in October in a deal worth $44 billion, Elon Musk has announced a slew of changes. Whether it is reinstating any Twitter account or getting the coveted blue tick, the norms for a number of Twitter services have changed under Musk's leadership.

The billionaire, who is also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has taken some decisions like restoring former US President Donald Trump's Twitter account or stepping down as the head of the company through polls on the social media platform.

Speaking on the challenge of digital polarisation, Gates said, "I think, certainly, the Twitter situation is stirring things up. That, instead of an objective set of measures done by a broad group of people, you're sort of seeing seat-of-the-pants type activity."

He further suggested that social media companies need to "focus on the things that incite riots or lead to huge misconceptions about the safety of vaccines or masks, or those types of things." Battling misinformation was even daunting for "even a fair-minded person with the world's best technology and infinite staffing budget," he told the publication.

Bill Gates and Elon Musk have sparred in the past over their opposing views on issues like space travel and climate change – but the Microsoft billionaire is not alone in taking exception to Musk's style of running Twitter.