Why NBC exec Linda Yaccarino is likely to be Elon Musk’s pick for next Twitter CEO

He created upheaval at Twitter after taking over last October. Then in December, he asked followers if he should step down – 57 per cent said yes. Now Elon Musk has finally announced that he is quitting as chief executive officer (CEO). A new CEO has been hired – it’s a she and it’s likely going to be NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino.
Musk took to Twitter to announce that he has found a new leader, who will be starting work in six weeks. According to an exclusive report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) , Yaccarino is in talks to become the new CEO of Twitter .
“Excited to announce that I’ve a new CEO for X/Twitter,” Musk wrote in the tweet. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”
Musk will continue as executive chair and chief technical officer of the microblogging platform.

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


Who is Linda Yaccarino?
While Musk did not mention who will be stepping into his shoes, Linda Yaccarino’s name cropped up after the WSJ report. Journalist and founder of media company Puck, Dylan Byers has also confirmed it is her.
He tweeted, “Elon Musk plans to make NBCUniversal advertising chief LINDA YACCARINO the next CEO of Twitter, per two sources familiar....”

NEW: Elon Musk plans to make NBCUniversal advertising chief LINDA YACCARINO the next CEO of Twitter, per two sources familiar....
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) May 11, 2023

Yaccarino is the head of advertising at NBCUniversal, a multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. She has been with the company for more than a decade.
As chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal (NBCU), she has strived to improve the effectiveness of advertising. She played a key role in the launch of the organisation’s ad-supported Peacock streaming service, reports WSJ.
According to her profile on LinkedIn, Yaccarino has a 2,000-member global team that connects emerging and established brands to hundreds of millions of viewers, driving impact across every sector. She is responsible for stewarding and monetising the company’s industry-leading portfolio of linear networks, digital and streaming platforms, distribution and commerce partnerships, and client relationships.


 










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A post shared by Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc)



Before NBCU, Yaccarino enjoyed a long stint of 19 years at Turner Entertainment, an American multimedia company. She has been credited with increasing the network’s ad sales operations.
She is an alumna of Penn State University and has studied liberal arts and telecommunications.
Yaccarino is known in the media and digital circles. This is not the first time her name has come up for the role of CEO of a company. It was kicked around to lead Univision and Paramount Global, reports Variety.
What will be the challenges for Yaccarino?
Reports in the media suggest that Yaccarino has been wanting the job and has been vocal about it in conversations with friends.
She has been a big supporter of Musk at a time when he was slashing jobs. At an Ad Age conference last year she said that the tech billionaire needs to be given time to turn the company around, according to a report in Business Insider .
Yaccarino hosted and interviewed Musk at the “Possible” advertising conference, a popular marketing expo, in Miami recently. A report in Verge says the interview was “gushing” and Yaccarino has been tweeting about how excited she is that NBC was partnering with Twitter for the next Olympics. She also said she was a big backer of “freedom of speech” in a tweet sharing the chat.
Linda Yaccarino has been a supporter of Elon Musk and recently interviewed him at an advertising conference in Miami last month. Image courtesy: NBCU
If Yaccarino takes up the job, she will focus on Twitter’s business. The spending of top advertisers on Twitter has fallen sharply in recent months since Musk took over. Here is where her experience in ad sales would come in handy. She is well-respected among CMOs who need to be convinced that they should invest in the platform again, the Verge reports says.
Yaccarino has experience selling video advertising online. “Every day, Yaccarino transforms the $70 billion premium video ecosystem,” her LinkedIn profile says. Now that is an area in the business that Musk has been keen on exploring.
That’s not all. Since Musk took over Twitter has had massive layoffs and faced multiple technical glitches. So Yaccarino has a lot to fix.
“She’s tough as fucking nails and she’s always wanted this job,” a former colleague told the publication. “It’s perfect.”
Yes, she has the experience and all the right qualifications. One industry insider told Fortune Twitter needs “someone who can deal with crazy men”.
However, there has been no confirmation from Yaccarino yet.
Are there any other names doing the rounds?
The report in Business Insider says that chatter at Twitter is that Ella Irwin was a favourite to replace Musk. She is the company’s vice president of trust and safety.
She replaced Yoel Roth in the role late last year after Roth seemed to have a falling out with Musk regarding Twitter's efforts around platform health, the report says.
Irwin joined the company in June 2022 and is a confidante of Musk. She is one of the few top executives who has not been laid off. The Twitter boss’s trust in her has only increased since he acquired the platform last year for $44 billion.
According to media reports, Twitter insiders believe that Ella Irwin, the company’s vice president of trust and safety, could replace Musk for the top job. File photo/AFP
Irwin is a staunch Musk loyalist. According to Fortune , she has been crucial in bringing changes to Twitter like doing away with misinformation policies.
“Everyone thinks it is going to be her,” an employee told Business Insider . Another person familiar with the company said that the delay in the new CEO’s start date could be related to Irwin currently living in Seattle and moving to San Francisco, where Twitter is headquartered, the report says.
Irwin earlier worked at Google and Amazon, where her focus was on trust and safety in ads and marketplace risk management.
Another name that was doing the rounds earlier was Steve Davis , the current CEO of Musk’s The Boring Company, the infrastructure and tunnel construction services. He is also reportedly keen to take up the top post and hit headlines when he slept at the firm with his newborn. However, now that Musk has said a woman is taking over, it is clear that Davis has not got the job.
That said, this is Elon Musk’s Twitter and surprises have become par for the course.
With inputs from agencies
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