Elon Musk has confirmed that the , or X Corp. as itB次元官网网址檚 now called, will be NBCUniversalB次元官网网址檚 Linda Yaccarino, an executive with deep ties to the advertising industry.
B次元官网网址淚 am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!B次元官网网址� Musk wrote in a Friday tweet. He added that Yaccarino B次元官网网址渨ill focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.B次元官网网址�
Yaccarino has worked at NBCUniversal for nearly 12 years B次元官网网址� with her team generating more than $100 billion in ad sales since 2011, her notes. According to , Yaccarino previously served as NBCB次元官网网址檚 chair for advertising and client partnerships and as president of cable entertainment and digital advertising sales. Prior to her time with NBC, Yaccarino worked at global entertainment company Turner for almost two decades.
Yaccarino Musk on a Miami stage last month in front of hundreds of advertisers.
Luring advertisers is critical for Musk and Twitter after many after his takeover of the social media platform, fearing harm to their brands in the ensuing chaos. Musk said in late April that but provided no details.
Yaccarino could help restore advertisersB次元官网网址� faith in Twitter, ad agency DiGo founder and creative chief Mark DiMassimo said. He noted that Yaccarino successfully integrated and digitized ad sales at Comcast and NBC B次元官网网址� and that her track record of cross-selling ads across different platforms could appeal to Musk as he tries to transform Twitter from a social media company to a bigger media platform.
B次元官网网址淚f anyone can translate the Musk vision into advantages for marketers sheB次元官网网址檒l be able to do it,B次元官网网址� DiMassimo said. B次元官网网址淓ven though thereB次元官网网址檚 skepticism and all marketers live in the B次元官网网址榮how meB次元官网网址� state right now with regard to Twitter, if in fact she does go to Twitter this is a powerfully reassuring move.B次元官网网址�
Musk has long insisted he is not the companyB次元官网网址檚 permanent CEO. The Tesla billionaire said in a tweet Thursday that his role will transition to being TwitterB次元官网网址檚 executive chairman and chief technology officer.
In mid-November, just a few weeks after buying the social media platform for $44 billion, he told a Delaware court that he does not want to be the CEO of any company.
More than a month later, he tweeted in December: B次元官网网址淚 will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.B次元官网网址� asked him to step down in a Twitter poll the billionaire himself created and promised to abide by.
In February, he told a conference he anticipated finding a CEO for San Francisco-based Twitter B次元官网网址減robably toward the end of this year.B次元官网网址�
Analysts who follow TwitterB次元官网网址檚 business welcomed the news even without knowing who the replacement will be. TwitterB次元官网网址檚 advertising business has taken a hit under MuskB次元官网网址檚 mercurial rule, though the billionaire told BBC last month that the company is now B次元官网网址渞oughlyB次元官网网址� breaking even.
B次元官网网址淎 new CEO is the only way forward for Twitter,B次元官网网址� said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg.
B次元官网网址淭he single biggest problem with TwitterB次元官网网址檚 ad business was Elon Musk. As he steps back, Twitter can begin to unravel MuskB次元官网网址檚 personal brand from the companyB次元官网网址檚 corporate image and attempt to regain trust among advertisers,B次元官网网址� Enberg said. B次元官网网址淭he success of those efforts will depend on who takes over, but itB次元官网网址檚 difficult to imagine that the new CEO could be more controversial or damaging to TwitterB次元官网网址檚 ad business than Musk has been.B次元官网网址�
Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester Research, added that advertising is not the only challenge that TwitterB次元官网网址檚 new CEO will face B次元官网网址� after all, Musk has B次元官网网址渇undamentally alteredB次元官网网址� Twitter both as a product and a community, arguably B次元官网网址渇or the worst.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲hile heB次元官网网址檚 stepping back from the CEO title, Musk is far from likely to step back from calling the product shots,B次元官网网址� Proulx said.
Shares of Tesla rose about 2% Thursday after Musk made the announcement. Shareholders of the electric car company have been concerned about how much of his attention is being spent on Twitter.
Last November, Musk was questioned in court about how he splits his time among Tesla and his other companies, including SpaceX and Twitter. Musk over a shareholderB次元官网网址檚 challenge to his potentially $55 billion compensation plan as CEO of the electric car company.
Musk said he never intended to be CEO of Tesla, and that he didnB次元官网网址檛 want to be chief executive of any other companies either, preferring to see himself as an engineer. Musk also said at the time that he expected an organizational restructuring of Twitter to be completed in the next week or so. ItB次元官网网址檚 been nearly six months since he said that.
MuskB次元官网网址檚 tenure at TwitterB次元官网网址檚 helm has been , and heB次元官网网址檚 made various promises and proclamations heB次元官网网址檚 backtracked or never followed up on. He began his first day firing the companyB次元官网网址檚 top executives, followed by . HeB次元官网网址檚 upended the platformB次元官网网址檚 and has scaled back content moderation and safeguards against the .
Bantering with Twitter followers late last year, Musk expressed pessimism about the prospects for a new CEO, saying that person B次元官网网址渕ust like pain a lotB次元官网网址� to run a company that B次元官网网址渉as been in the fast lane to bankruptcy.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淣o one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,B次元官网网址� Musk tweeted at the time.
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AP Business Writers Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Mae Anderson contributed to this report.
Barbara Ortutay And Matt OB次元官网网址檅rien, The Associated Press
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