Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter and the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has announced that he will step down as the CEO of the social media platform and hand over the reins to a new leader.
Musk tweeted on Thursday that he has hired a new CEO for Twitter, but did not reveal the name. He said the incumbent will start in about six weeks and that he will transition to being the executive chair and chief technology officer, overseeing product, software and system operations.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising, is in talks to become Twitter’s CEO, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Musk acquired Twitter in October in a deal worth $44 billion and fired the then CEO Parag Agrawal. He briefly changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” and ran the company in his own unconventional style.
In December, he ran a Twitter poll asking his followers if he should resign as CEO, saying he would abide by the result. More than 17 million people voted and 57% said yes. Musk joked that he would resign as soon as he found someone “foolish enough” to take the job.
Musk has faced backlash from some Tesla investors who worried that Twitter was a distraction for him and that it hurt Tesla’s brand image. Tesla’s stock price rose on Thursday after Musk announced that he had found a new CEO for Twitter.
Linda Yaccarino is the new CEO of Twitter, replacing Elon Musk who will transition to executive chair and chief technology officer3. She was previously the chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, where she oversaw a team that generated more than $100 billion in ad sales and forged partnerships with companies like Apple, Snapchat, and Twitter24.
She is expected to focus on business operations and revenue growth for Twitter, while Musk will focus on product design and new technology.
She may also help restore Twitter’s relationship with advertisers, many of whom left the platform after Musk’s controversial takeover. Additionally, she may support Musk’s vision of transforming Twitter into an “everything app” similar to WeChat.
Some analysts and users have expressed doubts about Yaccarino’s suitability for the role, citing her lack of tech experience and her involvement with the World Economic Forum, an organization that Musk has criticized2. However, others have praised her leadership skills and media savvy, and said that she shares some of Musk’s political views4.
It remains to be seen how well Yaccarino will serve Twitter and its stakeholders, but she certainly faces a challenging and exciting task ahead.
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