Linda Yaccarino is set to take over from Elon Musk as Twitter CEO. The confirmation came via a social media post from the billionaire businessman on Friday evening – mere hours after NBCUniversal announced her departure. He had earlier indicated that the new CEO would be starting work in approximately six weeks.
“I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter! Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app,” he tweeted.
According to the update shared by Musk, the newly appointed CEO will be focusing primarily on business operations. Meanwhile the SpaceX and Tesla boss will looking at product design and new technology.
“My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software and sysops,” he had earlier tweeted.
The duo appear to already have a friendly relationship with Yaccarino interviewing Musk last month at a major advertising conference in Miami, and calling him “friend” and “buddy” on stage. Yaccarino repeatedly emphasized in her interview with Musk that what advertisers are looking for from Twitter is protection. At one point, she candidly asked Musk whether he felt he had “de-risked” the platform enough to assure advertisers that their campaigns aren’t going to land in “awful hateful places.”
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October and indicated that he’d only be in charge for a limited time to complete the organizational overhaul he thought the company needed to prosper. In December, Musk asked his Twitter followers if he should step down as CEO, and 57.5% said yes. The billionaire said he will remain executive chairman after the transition.
(with inputs from agencies)