UPDATE (10:30AM 15 May 2023): Elon Musk has confirmed that the new CEO is indeed Linda Yaccarino, as well as her role as mostly on the business operations of Twitter.
ORIGINAL STORY (1:30PM 12 May 2023):
Not too long after being the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk said that he will stop being the bird app’s CEO once a suitable replacement has been found. This was said shortly after putting up a poll asking his followers if he should step down as the platform’s head. Musk has seemingly found said replacement.
In a tweet, Musk announced that a new CEO for X / Twitter, who will take the top spot in six week’s time. Once the new person takes over the role, he will be transitioning to being executive chairperson as well as CTO, “overseeing product, software & sysops”. No mention as to who this person is, but The Wall Street Journal reports that Linda Yaccarino, head of advertising for NBCUniversal, “is in talks to become the new CEO” for the social media platform. The report notes that Yaccarino “is well-known for her tight relationship with marketers and ad agencies”, which is probably what Twitter needs right now.
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
All that being said, Yaccarino being CEO of Twitter isn’t set in stone just yet.
Update: Musk has confirmed that Yaccarino is indeed the new CEO, in a tweet a day after the initial one announcing someone new taking the position.
And with Musk still being executive chair and overseeing the technical side of the business, it looks like the new CEO’s role is strictly on the business side of things. The power dynamics between the two will be interesting for onlookers, though employees of the bird app may have a thing or two to say about that. But for what it’s worth, The Verge claims that both Musk and Yaccarino “see eye to eye politically”, so there will likely be a semblance of coherence.
Following the poll and the promise to find someone to be CEO of Twitter in December, Musk said in February that “probably towards the end of this year should be good timing to find someone else to run the company”. With this new development, it looks like he’s way ahead of schedule, which can be a tad surprising.
(Source: Elon Musk, WSJ, The Verge)
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