Elon Musk is buying Twitter. Now, who will end up running it?
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In business, there haven't been too many instances of one person running two major companies simultaneously. But, the few times that has occurred have been notable.
Probably the best-known of such situations was when Steve Jobs concurrently served as chief executive officer of both Apple (AAPL) and Pixar for several years. That arrangement ended in 2006, when the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) bought Pixar for more than $7 billion and Jobs became the single-largest Disney (DIS) shareholder.
More recently, Jack Dorsey held the top jobs at financial services company Block (SQ)--which, though it changed its name in December 2021, is still known to many by its original moniker, Square--and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), until Dorsey gave up his CEO gig at the social-media giant late last year.
But, neither Jobs, nor Dorsey, could hold a candle to Elon Musk.
If anyone knows anything about Musk, it's that he is the face, and CEO of Tesla (TSLA). As if running the world's best-known electric carmaker wasn't enough, Musk spends at least part of his waking hours running SpaceX, as chief executive of the space services and exploration company. There is also SolarCity, where Musk is chairman of the Tesla-owned solar technology company. And let's not forget the Boring Company, which while it has been quiet of late, is working on transportation tunnels for cities with heavy highway traffic, and is a company majority owned by Musk.
So, Musk has a lot on his plate. And, it's possible he will have even more going on now that he's agreed to acquire Twitter (TWTR) in a deal valued at $44 billion. 
But, buying Twitter (TWTR) isn't the same as, say, buying and running the corner dry cleaners. And with Musk's attention already arguably stretched thin due to all of his other business commitments, it should be no surprise that questions have arisen over how much of a role Musk will have in Twitter's (TWTR) day-to-day operations, and the type of executive he might have in mind to run the company.
"Twitter is not Tesla. It's been Jack Dorsey's baby," said John Danner, senior fellow at the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business. "Musk has to have had a clear idea of what he thinks the company isn't doing right. And with that comes a high likelihood of [executive] changes."
Under terms of the acquisition deal, Twitter (TWTR) will become a private company. There remains the possibility that the deal could still fall through, and both Twitter (TWTR) and Musk would be on the hook for paying the other party a $1 billion fee if, respectively, either side cancels the acquisition for specific reasons.
But, if all goes according to plan, Musk will soon be the owner of Twitter (TWTR). And while nothing officially has been said about the future of Twitter (TWTR) Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, it's widely expected that he would leave the company, thus necessitating Musk having to put someone else in place whom he can trust to run things the way he wants.
"It would be impossible for him to take a full time job running Twitter as well as his other companies," said Tim Bajarin, director of Silicon Valley tech consulting and research firm Creative Strategies. "However, he is a master of finding CEO-level executives and designating the day-to-day [company] management to very talented people."
Gene Munster, managing director at Loup Ventures, said that he doesn't expect Musk to appoint himself as Twitter's (TWTR) next boss. Munster said that he believes Musk will manage his portfolio of companies in the same way that a corporate director can be on multiple company boards.
"He is there to make the most-important decisions, not manage the day-to-day operations," Munster said. "In that context, Musk can manage even more on his plate.
Whoever that person is, he or she will certainly have their hands full from day one. 
This is a business, not unlike Facebook (FB), whose fundamental strategic position depends completely upon trust," Danner said. "That can evaporate quickly."
Danner said that Twitter's (TWTR) next leader will need to have the ability of an executive who can balance the company's behind-the-scenes mechanics and operations with being able to navigate an intense overly political environment that can be seen every day in the subjects people see in their Twitter (TWTR) feeds.
"It's a rare kind of person who is strong at operations, technologically savvy and also has the single-minded focus to grow the company," Danner said. "Musk is a hands on type of guy, and he always put his stamp on every part of the companies he runs."