Elon Musk has given a hint earlier that he has found a new CEO for Twitter. And now, he has made it official. Musk, who is running Twitter since he bought it last year, has confirmed that he has chosen someone else to take care of Twitter and ‘she’ might be on board anytime soon. In other terms, Twitter is going to get a new CEO soon and Musk will move into a different role where he will be more focused on the product side of things. Buzz suggests that this new Twitter CEO is going to be Linda Yaccarino, the current chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal.
On Thursday, May 11, Musk announced on Twitter, “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” he tweeted. “She will be starting in 6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
As of now, Musk did not reveal who the new Twitter CEO is going to be, rumours quickly began circulating that it was Yaccarino. Kara Swisher, a journalist and Silicon Valley insider suggested that the person is none other than Yaccarino. Soon, Wall Street Journal followed with a report saying that Yaccarino is likely to be the new Twitter CEO.
Yaccarino is a well-known figure in the media industry. She has been with NBCUniversal for more than 20 years and has held a variety of leadership positions. She is currently responsible for all of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships businesses.
According to an article published in The Wall Street Journal, there are talks going on about Yaccarino potentially becoming the new CEO of Twitter. However, there has been no official confirmation yet from NBCUniversal, and Yaccarino herself has not made any comments on the matter.
If Yaccarino is ultimately chosen as Twitter’s new CEO, it would follow a well-established pattern in Silicon Valley where technology giants bring in industry insiders to manage the operational aspects of their companies, allowing the founders to concentrate on engineering and product development. Notable examples include Google’s founders hiring Eric Schmidt as CEO and Facebook bringing on board Sheryl Sandberg as COO to handle the business side of the company while Mark Zuckerberg focused on product innovation. Therefore, if Elon Musk appoints Yaccarino, it would be a conventional move for a tech leader to entrust the business side of their social media platform to an experienced industry insider.
Following his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion, Elon Musk has brought about significant transformations to the social media platform. This includes terminating several top executives, such as CEO Parag Agrawal, the CFO, and the general counsel. Musk has also carried out extensive layoffs, letting go of 75% of Twitter’s workforce, and rapidly introduced changes to the platform’s content moderation and products. One of the modifications he implemented was incorporating the verification system into an enhanced subscription service.
In November, the Tesla CEO claimed that he had “too much work” on his plate after the Twitter acquisition, and in December, he polled Twitter users for their opinions on whether he should step down as CEO. A majority of respondents favoured him to leave the position. Musk joked about who would run Twitter if he were to step down, stating that he would resign as soon as he found “someone foolish enough to take the job.” He also expressed his intention to appoint a new CEO toward the end of 2023.
Here is everything you need to know about Linda Yaccarino, the rumoured top candidate for the position of Twitter’s next CEO.
1. According to her LinkedIn profile, Linda Yaccarino is a long-time executive at NBC Universal, having worked there since 2011. She currently holds the position of Chairperson for Global Advertising and Partnerships.
2. Yaccarino previously served as head of the company’s cable entertainment and digital advertising sales division. Prior to her tenure at NBC Universal, Yaccarino spent 19 years at Turner, where she held various executive roles.
3. Her last position at Turner was Executive Vice President and COO of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales. Yaccarino is an alumna of Penn State University. She has studied liberal arts and telecommunications.
4. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Yaccarino has been a proponent in the advertising industry for improving methods to measure advertising effectiveness.
5. As reported by Business Insider (which requires a subscription), Yaccarino has expressed her desire to become the CEO of Twitter to her friends in the past. She is known to be a supporter of Elon Musk and has advocated for giving him the time needed to turn the company around.
The Business Insider report also mentioned Ella Irwin as a potential candidate for the CEO position at Twitter. She is currently in charge of the trust and safety division at Twitter and has reportedly built a positive relationship with Elon Musk following her promotion.