She is Elon Musk’s successor and the new head of Twitter: Linda Yaccarino
What: pa/newscom/JAMES ATOA
Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion. So far he has managed the company himself – but now wants to retire as Chief Technology Officer. He announced the name of his successor on Friday.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk puts the top post at Twitter in the hands of an advertising expert. Musk announced in a tweet on Friday that he welcomes Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO, confirming recent US media reports. The new managing director of the short message service was most recently in charge of the advertising business at the media giant NBC Universal.
Yaccarino’s decades of experience could help Twitter bring some calm to key advertisers that Musk scared off with his erratic leadership style. In the future, he wants to take care of products and software as head of technology. It is unclear how much freedom of action the new manager will have alongside Musk.
Musk had announced the day before that he wanted to give up the boss job soon. A successor has been found and will take over in about six weeks, he wrote in a tweet. He didn’t mention a name. Media reports quickly surfaced that it was Yaccarino who was negotiating with Twitter. NBC Universal announced on Friday that she was leaving the company, effective immediately.
Yaccarino was responsible for the global advertising business at NBC Universal. The group includes the US broadcaster NBC and the streaming service Peacock. Previously, she worked extensively in Warner’s TV business. NBC Universal recently struck a deal with Twitter for footage from the Paris 2024 Olympics. Variety wrote, citing those close to Yaccarino, that she had long expressed her admiration for Musk. In mid-April, she interviewed him on stage at an industry conference, showing sympathy for his views and stated goals.
Linda Yaccarino alongside Elon Musk at an industry conference in April
Those: Rebecca Blackwell/AP/dpa
Musk bought Twitter for around $44 billion in October, fired all top managers and took over the leadership himself. After that, advertising revenue collapsed – Twitter’s main source of income. Many advertisers feared a negative environment for their products on the service. In December, after controversy surrounding his leadership style, Musk had Twitter users vote on whether he should vacate the post – and a good 57 percent of the 17.5 million participants voted in favor of it.
After that, nothing happened at first, although Musk had assured that he would stick to the outcome of the vote. So he said he first had to find someone “crazy” enough to accept the job offer.
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