Linda Yaccarino, the wife hotly tipped as Twitter’s next CEO, has made no statements confirming or denying the rumors. But she’s certainly open to work: Today, NBCUniversal, where she served as the president of the advertising and affiliate group, announced that she’s leaving the company effective immediately.
“It has been an absolute honor to be a part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team,” she said in a statement. “We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry – and I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and I’m grateful to my colleagues and mentors, especially Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh, and the entire NBCU leadership team.”
Mark Marshall, currently president of advertising sales and customer partnerships, will take over the role on an interim basis.
Speculation about who would take over Twitter’s CEO role started yesterday, when Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner and current CEO, announced (on Twitter) that he had found someone to take over the job, noting that ” she will begin in (approximately) six weeks.”
NBCU’s announcement will be seen by many as indirect confirmation of reports that Yaccarino will be the executive in question. It could even mean an official Twitter announcement coming today.
(The fact that Musk played at least some semblance of rules here is interesting. Does the influence of the new CEO play a role yet? NBCU was once a major media partner for Twitter in its heyday, so played nice here and coordinated with their own media strategy could also be a nod to that.)
Placing an advertising supremo at the top of the company — Musk says he will stay on as chairman and “CTO, overseeing product, software and sysops” — is a good idea and a smart move given how dire things are for the company in business since Musk took over last year.
Apply irregular policies to moderation, authentication, and other important aspects of Twitter’s user environment; and laying off a huge chunk of staff focused on all those areas plus others that are critical to monetization (including the sales teams), the site has drained advertisers, and with it revenue.
The big question now is whether it will be able to recover some of that, and if so, how it will do so without colliding with Musk and Musk’s accounting priorities.
More to come.
