Twitter owner and tech billionaire Elon Musk revealed the identity of the platform’s new CEO.
On Thursday, Musk revealed he had hired a new CEO to head “X/Twitter,” saying “she” would start in about six weeks.
Following heavy speculation amongst Twitter users, the tech billionaire revealed the identity of his new appointee Friday morning.
“I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!” Musk announced, saying Yaccarino would focus primarily on business operations while he focused on product design and new technology.
“Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app.”
I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.
Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Prior to Musk’s confirmation of Yaccarino, who has worked with NBCUniversal Media for 11 years, as Twitter’s new CEO, users criticizing her history serving as Executive Chair in the World Economic Forum founded by Klaus Schwab in 1971.
During her time with NBCUniversal, Yaccarino has served as the chairman of global advertising and partnerships, advertising and client partnerships, and the president of cable entertainment and digital advertising sales. Prior to NBCUniversal, Yaccarino was executive vice president/COO of advertising sales, marketing and acquisitions with Turner, formerly known as Turner Broadcasting Systems.
Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change commented on Musk’s new appointee, suggesting users could see the return of shadowbans to which the tech billionaire responded, “that will not be the case.”
“I think people from both sides of the political spectrum will find Linda to be smart, fair and reasonable,” Musk said of his new hire.
Alex Lorusso, executive producer of The Benny Show, took a more confident approach to Yaccarino’s appointment noting changes to Twitter’s terms of service.
“Regardless of who the new X/Twitter CEO is, Elon will still be Executive Chair and especially after our conversation today, I’m confident he’ll ensure that the company stays true to 2.0 values,” Lorusso said, further noting Musk still owned the platform and could remove the new CEO at any time if he was displeased with their performance. “Ensuring the platform allows the most Free Speech possible is a top priority for him.”
“Trust & Safety has been reforming policy so that it’s less strict. They’re starting to move toward Tweet-Level rather than Account-Level actions (suspensions) for minor violations,” he continued in a follow-up tweet. “It’s not perfect & their work isn’t done. It’s difficult to make massive changes overnight at scale”
Musk responded to Lorusso’s remarks saying his commitment to “open source transparency” along with “accepting a wide range of viewpoints” remained unchanged.
