Elon Musk has confirmed that NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino has been appointed as Twitter’s CEO – and hinted that the platform will be rebranded as “X, the everything app.”
Musk made the announcement Friday morning with a tweet that read, “I look forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app.”
He said Yaccarino “will focus primarily on business operations, while I will focus on product design and new technology.”
Yaccarino had resigned as head of advertising at NBC earlier in the day – following growing speculation that she would be chosen for the Twitter role. Musk said in December that he would step down as CEO once he found someone “stupid enough” to replace him.
Her appointment comes after she interviewed Musk at an April marketing event and bragged about her “work ethic” — a meeting some speculate may have played a major role in her appointment.
Linda Yaccarino, head of advertising at NBCUniversal, has been named CEO of Twitter
Elon Musk was interviewed by Linda Yaccarino at a marketing conference on April 18 and it is speculated that the meeting was instrumental in her nomination
Musk announced Yaccarino’s appointment Friday morning with a tweet that read, “I look forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app.”
Her resignation from NBCUniversal was announced in a statement saying she was leaving the role of President of Global Advertising and Partnerships effective immediately.
Yaccarino said, “It has been an absolute honor to be a part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team. We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry – and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together.”
The agreement on Twitter confirms reports that Musk, who bought the site in October, hired her as the platform’s chief executive.
Yaccarino interviewed Musk at an April 18 marketing event and began by telling the audience, “Many of you in this room know me and you know I pride myself on my work ethic, but friend, I’ve met my match.”
Observers speculated that the interview may have played an important role in Yaccarino’s appointment to Twitter.
She also spoke positively of Musk’s “push toward democratization” on Twitter at the POSSIBLE marketing conference in Miami.
During the conversation, Musk also touched on his vision to make Twitter X, the everything app.
“Twitter is basically an accelerator of an idea I’ve had for a long time…X, the everything app,” he said. He described it as a “platform so convenient you’ll find it essential to live your life.”
Yaccarino was reported to be Musk’s choice of CEO shortly after he tweeted that a woman had been hired for the job
His announcement that she’d been hired said she’d help transform Twitter into “X, the everything app” — something he talked about after buying the platform for $44 billion in October
The app is said to offer tools to enable payments, private and public communications, and be “incredibly useful.”
Musk founded X Corp in March 2023 and the company owns Twitter.
The series of developments on Friday comes after Musk announced a day earlier that a new CEO for Twitter had been appointed in six weeks.
He tweeted, “Excited to announce that I have hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will start in ~6 weeks!
“My role will transition to exec chairman and CTO, overseeing products, software and sysops.”
A ten-year veteran of NBCUniversal, Yaccarino is widely respected for her work reshaping strategies around measuring campaign success. She also played a leading role in the launch of the ad-supported streaming service Peacock.
Her background makes her an ideal candidate to lead Twitter, after some advertisers cut spending following Musk’s $44 billion acquisition.
But it will give NBCUniversal a headache, which is currently gearing up for its annual week-long “upfront” event on Monday. The event is the pitch to advertisers and an opportunity for the company to raise millions of dollars.
Pictured at the Golden Globes in January, Linda Yaccarino is a respected ten-year veteran of NBCUniversal
Some advertisers stopped spending on Twitter after Musk’s acquisition in October, and Yaccarino’s appointment will be seen as a way to address the problem
Musk announced that he would seek a new CEO for Twitter after a poll on the platform in December asked whether he should step down. Nearly 58 percent of people said yes.
He tweeted after the poll: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that I will only lead the software & servers teams.’
The 51-year-old, currently the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $182 billion, has had a turbulent time at Twitter.
Musk received a mixture of praise and criticism for bringing back several banned accounts. He also introduced an $8 monthly subscription fee to Twitter Blue, which allowed anyone to get the blue ticks previously reserved for certain individuals.
He has also cut back about two-thirds of Twitter’s workforce since his acquisition, dropping the workforce from 7,500 to less than 2,000.
