Elon Musk Appoints Linda Yaccarino As New CEO of Twitter

San Fransisco: Linda Yaccarino, former advertising chief at NBCUniversal, has been named the new CEO of Twitter by Elon Musk, who remains executive chairman and CTO. Yaccarino will bring a rich advertising background to Twitter, which has struggled to monetize since Musk’s takeover.

After Musk took charge of Twitter, many big companies halted their spending (primarily advertising) on the platform. They were concerned about how their brands might be affected by the changes he was making. Musk immediately fired thousands of staff in response. He also overhauled the way the service authenticates accounts, charging for blue ticks. Critics said this move would facilitate the spread of misinformation.

At NBCUniversal, Linda Yaccarino oversaw roughly 2,000 people and played a key role in launching its streaming service. She joined the company in 2011 after spending 15 years at Turner Entertainment and has been credited with bringing the network’s ad sales operation into the digital future.

Yaccarino’s departure had appeared to take NBCUniversal by surprise. On Thursday the firm had told news outlets that she was busy preparing for an upcoming conference.