Elon Musk has confirmed advertising executive Linda Yaccarino will be the next CEO of Twitter.
“I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter,” Musk tweeted Friday. “@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.”
Yaccarino, a longtime advertising executive, previously served as global chair of advertising and partnerships at NBC. She announced her resignation from NBCUniversal on Friday morning.
Musk told Twitter users on Thursday he was bringing in a female CEO to run the company. He didn’t reveal who the new leader would be, but reports in business publications quickly surfaced saying Yaccarino would be joining the platform.
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After Musk confirmed Yaccarino had been hired, conservative users rushed to Twitter on Friday to complain. They branded the advertising executive a “social justice warrior” and prompted the hashtag #RIPTwitter to trend.
Despite their objections, analysts say Yaccarino’s hiring will likely have a positive impact on Twitter.
“If anyone can translate the Musk vision into advantages for marketers she’ll be able to do it,” Mark DiMassimo, founder and creative chief of ad agency DiGo, told The Associated Press.
“This is a powerfully reassuring move,” DiMassimo added.
Advertisers have bailed on Twitter since Musk bought the company for $44 billion and took over operations in late 2022. Stars including Whoopi Goldberg, Shonda Rhimes, Elton John, and Jim Carrey have left Twitter as hate speech surged on Musk’s watch.
The billionaire businessman slashed thousands of jobs at the social media giant, including members of the platform’s trust and safety team. He cut back on technical support, reversed a ban on former President Donald Trump, and started charging $8 a month for blue check mark verification.
A wave of remaining employees quit after Musk demanded they work “long hours at high intensity” as part of his “extremely hardcore” Twitter 2.0 plan or leave the company.
In April, the Tesla and SpaceX leader spoke with Yaccarino at a marketing conference in Miami Beach, Florida.
[The two are shown above]
She told Musk, who is known for spreading conspiracy theories on Twitter, that advertisers wanted to see him spending less time tweeting.
“Will you commit to being a little more specific and commit to not tweet after 3 a.m.? People in this room would like to see that,” she said.
Musk responded, “I will aspire to tweet less after 3 a.m.”
Yaccarino graduated from Penn State University in 1985. She previously worked at Turner Broadcasting as executive vice president and COO of advertising sales, marketing and acquisitions. She also partnered with the Biden administration in 2021 to create a COVID-19 vaccine campaign that featured Pope Francis. In 2018, she was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition under the Trump administration.
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