Tesla chief Elon Musk named Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s former advertising chair, as the new Twitter CEO on Friday, May 12, months after promising to step down from the role himself.
In a late-morning post, Musk told his followers on the platform that he was excited to welcome her into the position. “@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology,” the tweet states, confirming his earlier statements that he would transition into system operations. The entrepreneur also wrote that both Yaccarino and himself will work “to transform this platform into X, the everything app.”
The announcement arrives nearly five months after Musk asked Twitter users to vote on whether he should step down from his position as the platform’s CEO or remain in charge. Out of the 17.5 million participants, 57.5% voted in favor of his retirement, a result the entrepreneur promised to honor. However, the company’s decision to bring Yaccarino on board may be less motivated by prior commitment and more by its difficulties in retaining marketing partners, many of whom ceased advertising on the site following Musk’s purchase in 2022. Prior to leaving her position, the incoming social media chief headed global advertising and partnership operations for NBCUniversal.
Yaccarino resigned from the media conglomerate mere hours before the news was revealed on Twitter, where she is to assume her role in six weeks. Her arrival comes amidst claims of censorship, bias and conspiracy on the platform, controversies which have led some shareholders to question whether Musk is appropriately focused on his duties as Tesla’s CEO.
