The CEO who by no means was: how Linda Yaccarino was set as much as fail at Elon Musk’s X

[ad_1] I n Might 2023, when Linda Yaccarino, an NBC promoting govt, joined what was then nonetheless generally known as Twitter, she was given a tall order: restore the corporate’s relationship with advertisers after a chaotic 12 months of being owned by Elon Musk. However simply weeks after she turned CEO, Musk posted an antisemitic tweet that drove away main manufacturers reminiscent of Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate and Warner Bros Discovery to pause their promoting on the platform. Musk delivered an apology for the tweet later at a convention – which he known as the worst submit he’s ever achieved – nevertheless it got here with a message to advertisers, particularly the Disney CEO Bob Iger: “Go fuck yourselves.” Yaccarino was within the viewers of the convention.

“I don’t need them to promote,” he mentioned. “If somebody goes to blackmail me with promoting or cash, go fuck your self. Go. Fuck. Your self,” he mentioned. “Is that clear? Hey Bob, for those who’re within the viewers, that’s how I really feel.”

Within the two years since, Yaccarino has needed to take care of the unpredictability of Musk, ongoing content material moderation and hate speech points on the platform, more and more strained relationships with advertisers and widespread backlash her boss obtained for his function in Donald Trump’s administration. Her response in some instances was to stay silent; in others, she selected to defend the corporate. Via all of it, nevertheless, consultants say it was clear Yaccarino was the chief govt in title solely.

“The fact is that Elon Musk is and at all times has been on the helm of X,” mentioned Mike Proulx, analysis director at Forrester VP. “It was clear from the beginning that she was being set as much as fail by a restricted scope as the corporate’s chief govt. Her background and precise authority positioned her extra as the corporate’s chief promoting officer, somewhat than its CEO.”

Even in her de facto function as a chief promoting officer, Musk’s incessant posting, impulsive determination making and obsession with X and different platforms changing into too “woke” posed large obstacles for Yaccarino.

“The one factor that’s shocking about Linda Yaccarino’s resignation is that it didn’t come sooner,” mentioned Proulx.

This week alone, Grok, the AI chatbot built-in with X, posted a number of antisemitic remarks, together with some praising Hitler, after the corporate included new pointers for the chatbot. In pointers xAI printed, Grok had been instructed to not “draw back from making claims that are politically incorrect, so long as they're effectively substantiated”. xAI eliminated that guideline from its code on Tuesday night.

Yaccarino’s tenure as CEO of X was not solely bookended with antisemitism scandals – Musk’s and Grok’s offensive tweets – however was additionally punctuated with a number of accusations of antisemitism in opposition to her boss all through her brief stint. In 2023, the non-profit watchdog Middle for Countering Digital Hate printed a report on the prevalence of hate speech, each antisemitic and in any other case, on X in addition to the shortage of moderation. The corporate’s response was to sue the group; the go well with was finally dismissed. Equally, the non-profit Media Issues for America highlighted the looks of pro-Nazi tweets alongside branded commercials in a report that preceded a mass advertiser exodus from the social community. X sued Media Issues.

Most notably, Musk was accused of doing back-to-back Nazi salutes at a Trump inauguration rally in the beginning of 2025. Musk brushed apart the allegations that it was a Nazi salute and posted a number of Nazi puns on X. On the time, Yaccarino supplied no further remark, however posted a laughing face emoji in response to Musk’s jokes. Musk’s salute and the following backlash was one in all a number of moments that solidified the general rightward shift of the social community as droves of customers started to flock to various platforms like Bluesky, and even Reddit communities started banning X hyperlinks.

Guarantees of an X revitalization When Yaccarino joined X, she set about courting celebrities and partnerships to reinvigorate the social community’s model and restore relationships that Musk’s contentious takeover had broken. Musk had lengthy talked of creating X into an “every thing app” that will combine funds, AI, messaging, livestreaming and different new options alongside the social community’s public posting, one other job given to Yaccarino.

Yaccarino led a delegation of executives, together with Musk himself, to satisfy with trade leaders on the Cannes Lions pageant in 2023, and started looking for media figures who might characteristic on the platform.

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One in every of Yaccarino’s strikes towards making the platform into what she described as a “international city sq.” was reaching out to the previous CNN host Don Lemon to start out a present on X, a lot as the previous Fox Information host Tucker Carlson had agreed to place his content material on web site. Lemon’s first interview for the platform was with Musk, in what was supposed to be a showcase of how X was shifting and bringing in big-name creators. The plan backfired after Lemon’s interview with Musk grew heated over questions in regards to the billionaire’s drug use, which was rapidly adopted by Musk telling Lemon’s agent that his contract was canceled. Future reveals with big-name creators by no means materialized.

Within the ensuing two years, somewhat than develop into a vacation spot for mainstream expertise, a streaming powerhouse or the “every thing app” that Yaccarino promoted, X has largely develop into a megaphone for Musk to air his grievances, increase after which feud with Trump, and promote his corporations. Far-right influencers, porn spambots and meme accounts proliferate, whereas many media retailers have deprioritized the platform or left it altogether. Misinformation and extremism are rampant, typically coming from Musk himself.

The day earlier than Yaccarino resigned, X turned concerned in a scandal that epitomized a lot of what the platform has develop into. Musk had lately posted that he could be reconfiguring xAI’s chatbot, Grok, as a result of he didn't agree with the responses it was producing. On Tuesday, customers seen that the chatbot had begun to answer to queries with blatantly antisemitic posts praising Nazi ideology. A flood of customers started posting extra screenshots of Grok posting rape fantasies, figuring out itself as “MechaHitler” and selling conspiracies earlier than the corporate eliminated the posts.

Incidents like Grok’s foray into Nazism are a few of the many causes Yaccarino’s purpose of revitalizing X has sputtered. Though she succeeded in courting a lot of main corporations to start promoting once more final 12 months, at a time when Musk’s connections to the White Home have been strongest, the platform’s advert revenues have by no means reached anyplace close to their pre-Musk ranges, in accordance with the analysis agency Emarketer. The platform additionally resorted to threats of lawsuits in opposition to main corporations reminiscent of Verizon if they didn't purchase promoting on the positioning, in accordance with a Wall Avenue Journal report that Yaccarino has denied.

After greater than two years of Yaccarino working harm management for her boss and the platform’s myriad points, Musk issued solely a short assertion acknowledging she was stepping down.

“Thanks on your contributions,” Musk responded to Yaccarino’s submit asserting her resignation. Minutes later, he started sending replies to different posts about SpaceX, synthetic intelligence and the way his chatbot turned a Nazi.