Linda Yaccarino, who most recently served as the head of advertising for NBCUniversal, has been appointed by Elon Musk to take over as CEO of Twitter.
Shortly after announcing that he had found a new CEO, Musk tweeted his confirmation of Yaccarino’s appointment.
“I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!” Musk tweeted. Musk said she “will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.”
Musk announced that he would continue in his roles as chairman and “CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”
Musk added, “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
Yaccarino made the announcement earlier in the day that she would be stepping down from her position as NBCUniversal’s head of global partnerships and advertising.
Almost 80% of Twitter’s personnel has been laid off since October, when Musk purchased the firm, prompting advertisers to flee the social media network out of concern that their ads would be displayed alongside offensive content.
Musk’s drastic staff reductions, the apparent surge in hate speech, and contentious policy decisions, like his decision to allow previously banned Twitter users back, have alarmed many advertisers.
After spending 15 years at Turner Entertainment, Yaccarino joined NBCU in 2011. She is recognized for bringing the network’s ad sales division into the digital era.
After losing billions of dollars in advertising revenue since Musk took over Twitter last year, Yaccarino’s extensive network of CMOs and other advertising industry leaders is a welcome addition at a time when users are abandoning the site in large numbers.
Yaccarino has progressively risen through the ranks of some of America’s largest media organizations, becoming one of the few women to lead Fortune 500 tech companies.
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