Linda Yaccarino steps down from Elon Musk's X : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7616x5077+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F81%2F47513b2841e1b1bd906df2f7935a%2Fgettyimages-2192302615.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7616x5077+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F81%2F47513b2841e1b1bd906df2f7935a%2Fgettyimages-2192302615.jpg" class="img" alt="Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, formerly Twitter, at a trade show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2025. Yaccarino announced Wednesday that she is stepping down from X after two years running the social media platform." fetchpriority="high"/> Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, previously Twitter, at a commerce present in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2025. Yaccarino introduced Wednesday that she is stepping down from X after two years working the social media platform. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP through Getty Pictures conceal caption

toggle caption

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP through Getty Pictures Linda Yaccarino, who was employed two years in the past as chief govt officer of X, mentioned on Wednesday she was stepping down from the social media platform.

Her sudden exit comes a day after xAI, Musk's synthetic intelligence startup that has been merged with X, went on a antisemetic diatribe and praised Hitler, prompting widespread denunciation.

Yaccarino didn't cite a cause for her departure in her publish saying that she was leaving the corporate.

"When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his imaginative and prescient for X, I knew it will be the chance of a lifetime to hold out the extraordinary mission of this firm. I am immensely grateful to him for entrusting me," she wrote on X on Wednesday. "I will be cheering you all on as you proceed to alter the world."

Yaccarino, a conventional enterprise govt, was in some ways a robust foil to the mercurial and controversy-courting Musk.

She turned the general public face of X's promoting enterprise, which is how many of the platform's income is generated. And she or he went to Washington as X's consultant, pushing for on-line youngster security legal guidelines. At X, she was compelled to repeatedly defend Musk via a bumpy two years.

"Thanks in your contributions," Musk wrote to Yaccarino on X. Musk and X didn't reply to requests for remark.

Musk tapped Yaccarino, a seasoned promoting govt at NBCUniversal, throughout a tumultuous time for X.

Following the billionaire buying the positioning previously often called Twitter in late 2022, about 80% of the employees had been slashed, beforehand banned customers had been restored and far-right personalities embraced the positioning.

On the time she was employed, Yaccarino was considered as a sensible alternative, seen as a stabilizing power who might assist deliver again advertisers who had been fleeing the platform over the modifications Musk has carried out.

In her govt function at NBCUniversal, she oversaw international promoting and partnerships, so she had the expertise and know-how to strike offers with main manufacturers.

However Musk, time and time once more, examined her mettle.

Six months into her tenure, her boss took the stage on the New York Instances DealBook convention and was requested about advertisers who had stopped spending on the platform. Musk responded with a number of profanities.

"What it is going to do is it is going to kill the corporate, and the entire world will know the advertisers killed the corporate," Musk mentioned on stage, accusing advert corporations of trying to "blackmail him."

Lou Paskalis, a fellow promoting govt and longtime good friend of Yaccarino, was troubled by the episode. He had advised Yaccarino to separate with Musk on a number of events to protect her popularity.

He's not shocked, he advised NPR on Wednesday, that she stayed on board for 2 years.

"A problem like it is a mechanical bull she'll by no means let go of. She is wired to win," Paskalis mentioned. "However she was set as much as fail from day one as a result of [Musk] was unwilling to alter his conduct," Paskalis mentioned.