Elon Musk was careful to keep the suspense up Announcement, Thursday, May 11thhave “has recruited a new CEO for X/Twitter”, who is due to take office in six weeks, but without providing any information about his identity. A few hours later, however The Wall Street Journal Then The Washington Post revealed the name of the new boss of the social network and Friday, May 12, Elon Musk Put an end to the suspense by confirming this name : Linda Yaccarino becomes the new CEO of Twitter. “She will mainly focus on business while I will focus on product design and new technologies.”he clarified in his tweet.
MMe Yaccarino was previously director of advertising and partnerships at the American media group NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast that combines the NBC channels, several film studios and streaming services. The group officially announced his departure in a press release published on Friday.
Linda Yaccarino has spent her entire career in media, first with Turner Group and then with NBCUniversal, where she held senior advertising positions for ten years. With no direct experience in Silicon Valley, she is well versed in the world of social media, having developed numerous partnerships with these companies over the years, including Twitter. In mid-April, MMe Yaccarino received Elon Musk for an interview at a marketing conference. According to website information axiosthey met again on the sidelines of another conference on May 9, two days before Elon Musk announced he had found his “Substitute”.
After launching a poll asking users if he should let go, a majority of whom responded “yes,” the businessman announced in December that he was beginning a search for a new CEO for Twitter have. Elon Musk’s tenure at the helm of the social network, and his often erratic behavior in that role, has indirectly caused Tesla shares to fall sharply as investors fear he is exiting his most profitable business.
Limited room for manoeuvre
It remains to be seen how large M’s actual room for maneuver will beMe Yaccarino. Elon Musk has actually also announced that he will remain CTO (Chief Technical Officer, the senior position overseeing all technical teams) of Twitter, and CEO. In practice, therefore, it will retain very significant power over all orientations of the platform.
The choice of an online advertising specialist is also partly at odds with recent decisions by Mr Musk, who appears to want to stake the future of the social network more on the paid service Twitter Blue than on advertising. Since the social network’s acquisition, advertising revenue has plummeted, particularly due to leaks from the big corporate advertisers, who have been frightened by their decisions to restrict moderation on the platform, as well as the firing of key site moderators, including many vendors responsible for selling advertising on Twitter.
The election of Linda Yaccarino also raised other political questions. The social network’s new director has been more reserved about her personal beliefs, but was chosen by the Trump administration to chair a presidential council on exercise and nutrition. Several observers and media outlets have also noted that she follows the activities of many American far-right accounts on Twitter, some of which are loved by Elon Musk.
At the same time, the announcement of his appointment caused a stir violent reactions from the extreme right-wing American conspiracy organizationin particular for his support for vaccination against Covid-19, but also because MMe Yaccarino heads a task force within the World Economic Forum, which has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.
Update Friday, May 12 at 4:30 p.m.: Added NBCUniversal’s official announcement of Linda Yaccarino’s departure.
