Elon Musk says he's found "a new CEO" for Twitter. It's said to be NBCU's Linda Yaccarino.
Elon Musk on Thursday tweeted that he's found "a new CEO for X/Twitter," adding, "She will be starting in ~6 weeks!" The billionaire said he'll transition his role to executive chairman and chief technology officer of the social media network.
Musk, who bought Twitter last year, didn't disclose the name of the new CEO, but several media reports say the executive may be Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal's head of advertising. On Friday, NBCU announced that Yaccarino has departed the company, effective immediately, although it didn't disclose where she would be going to.
Yaccarino had worked at NBCU for more than a decade, where she first ran cable and digital advertising sales for the media company. In 2020, she became chair of global advertising and partnerships. Her bio on LinkedIn notes that her team has generated more than $100 billion in ad sales since she joined the company in 2011.
Boosting ad sales at Twitter is a must for the social network, given that many of its top advertisers fled the service after Musk bought it and relaxed its content moderation oversight. Yaccarino would be the "right hire for Musk's visions," noted Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note.
"Yaccarino has been with NBCU for more than a decade where she has been a key figure in implementing effective advertising strategies and is highly respected in the industry," he noted. "Twitter needs a CEO that can hit the ground running and try to turnaround the Twitter platform with a key 6 to 12 months ahead."
Twitter changed its corporate name to X Corp. last month and moved its headquarters to Nevada.
Excited to announce that I’ve a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
Musk, who has served as Twitter's CEO since buying the company in October for $44 billion, has said for months that he would step down as the social media service's chief executive once he found a replacement. On Thursday, Musk said he'll transition into a role overseeing products and software.
Musk has previously treated the CEO role with some skepticism, tweeting in December that he would resign as soon "as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!" Those remarks came after he hosted a poll asking Twitter users if he should leave the position — almost 58% said he should give up the top job.
Some investors in Tesla, where Musk is also the CEO, have urged him to step back from Twitter. The electric car maker's shares slumped last year, costing the company $700 billion in market value. But this year Tesla's shares have rebounded, jumping 59%. Shares of the automaker rose 2% on Thursday.