Twitter’s owner and CEO, Elon Musk, has announced his decision to step down from the company’s top role in a tweet published via his personal account.
Musk revealed he has hired a new person for the role and she will start in approximately six weeks. He then went on to state that his role will transition to executive chairman as well as Chief Technology Officer in which capacity he will oversee "product, software and sysops."
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
While Musk didn’t reveal the mystery hire in his original tweet, he has since confirmed it is Linda Yaccarino, the current head of advertising at the American media and entertainment behemoth NBCUniversal. He tweeted, "I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!"
He went on to clarify that Yaccarino will focus primarily on business operations, while he will focus on product design & new technology. Finally, he wrote "Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app."
I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.
Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Musk’s revelation comes several months after he announced he would step down as Twitter CEO last December. The CEO and founder of SpaceX had earlier run a Twitter poll asking users to vote on whether he should remain as the CEO or if he should step down. With 57% of voters in support of his resignation, he had promised to vacate the role as soon as he finds someone "foolish enough to take the job."
Since Musk finalized his acquisition of the social media platform last October, it has lost numerous advertisers amid many decisions that have increasingly alienated advertisers. Some of these decisions include a mass layoff and discontinuation of its ree, legacy verification process in favor of a paid one that many have argued will make the platform less uncertain and trustworthy.
Given Yaccarino’s extensive background in advertising – she oversees over $13 billion in annual ad revenue in her role at NBCUniversal – Musk will be hoping she can lure some of the advertisers Twitter has lost since his acquisition.
However, Yaccarino’s appointment has raised some eyebrows on the platform with some users pointing to her role within the World Economic Forum as proof of her ineligibility to head it. Others pointed to an interview she did with Musk at the Possible marketing event in Miami last month as further proof she doesn’t align with Musk’s vision for the platform.
According to them, she's the antithesis of Musk’s plan to make the platform a safe space for free speech.
Musk acknowledged these concerns but asked users not to judge too early. The techpreneur then affirmed his commitment to defending free speech "even if it means losing money."
I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early. I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Given Musk’s desire to ensure Twitter is free of moderation, it remains to be seen how Yaccarino will achieve her purpose. Nevertheless, one thing is certain: she has numerous challenges ahead of her. It remains to be seen how she will handle these.
