Elon Musk has confirmed that the , or X Corp. as it害羞草研究所檚 now called, will be NBCUniversal害羞草研究所檚 Linda Yaccarino, an executive with deep ties to the advertising industry.
害羞草研究所淚 am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!害羞草研究所� Musk wrote in a Friday tweet. He added that Yaccarino 害羞草研究所渨ill focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.害羞草研究所�
Yaccarino has worked at NBCUniversal for nearly 12 years 害羞草研究所� with her team generating more than $100 billion in ad sales since 2011, her notes. According to , Yaccarino previously served as NBC害羞草研究所檚 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 advertisers害羞草研究所� 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 害羞草研究所� 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.
害羞草研究所淚f anyone can translate the Musk vision into advantages for marketers she害羞草研究所檒l be able to do it,害羞草研究所� DiMassimo said. 害羞草研究所淓ven though there害羞草研究所檚 skepticism and all marketers live in the 害羞草研究所榮how me害羞草研究所� state right now with regard to Twitter, if in fact she does go to Twitter this is a powerfully reassuring move.害羞草研究所�
Musk has long insisted he is not the company害羞草研究所檚 permanent CEO. The Tesla billionaire said in a tweet Thursday that his role will transition to being Twitter害羞草研究所檚 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: 害羞草研究所淚 will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.害羞草研究所� 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 害羞草研究所減robably toward the end of this year.害羞草研究所�
Analysts who follow Twitter害羞草研究所檚 business welcomed the news even without knowing who the replacement will be. Twitter害羞草研究所檚 advertising business has taken a hit under Musk害羞草研究所檚 mercurial rule, though the billionaire told BBC last month that the company is now 害羞草研究所渞oughly害羞草研究所� breaking even.
害羞草研究所淎 new CEO is the only way forward for Twitter,害羞草研究所� said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg.
害羞草研究所淭he single biggest problem with Twitter害羞草研究所檚 ad business was Elon Musk. As he steps back, Twitter can begin to unravel Musk害羞草研究所檚 personal brand from the company害羞草研究所檚 corporate image and attempt to regain trust among advertisers,害羞草研究所� Enberg said. 害羞草研究所淭he success of those efforts will depend on who takes over, but it害羞草研究所檚 difficult to imagine that the new CEO could be more controversial or damaging to Twitter害羞草研究所檚 ad business than Musk has been.害羞草研究所�
Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester Research, added that advertising is not the only challenge that Twitter害羞草研究所檚 new CEO will face 害羞草研究所� after all, Musk has 害羞草研究所渇undamentally altered害羞草研究所� Twitter both as a product and a community, arguably 害羞草研究所渇or the worst.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淲hile he害羞草研究所檚 stepping back from the CEO title, Musk is far from likely to step back from calling the product shots,害羞草研究所� 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 shareholder害羞草研究所檚 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 didn害羞草研究所檛 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. It害羞草研究所檚 been nearly six months since he said that.
Musk害羞草研究所檚 tenure at Twitter害羞草研究所檚 helm has been , and he害羞草研究所檚 made various promises and proclamations he害羞草研究所檚 backtracked or never followed up on. He began his first day firing the company害羞草研究所檚 top executives, followed by . He害羞草研究所檚 upended the platform害羞草研究所檚 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 害羞草研究所渕ust like pain a lot害羞草研究所� to run a company that 害羞草研究所渉as been in the fast lane to bankruptcy.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淣o one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,害羞草研究所� 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 O害羞草研究所檅rien, The Associated Press
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