Current:Home > BackElon Musk picks NBC advertising executive as next Twitter CEO-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Elon Musk picks NBC advertising executive as next Twitter CEO
View Date:2024-12-23 18:54:37
Twitter owner Elon Musk announced in a tweet on Friday that Linda Yaccarino, a veteran media executive who led advertising at NBCUniversal for more than a decade, will succeed him as the platform's next CEO.
"I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!" Musk wrote.
"[Yaccarino] will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology," Musk continued. "Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app."
Hours earlier Friday, NBCUniversal announced that Yaccarino "is leaving the company, effective immediately," according to a statement.
"It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team," Yaccarino said.
Musk had tweeted Thursday that he had picked someone for the No. 1 job, the position currently occupied by himself. But left crucial details, like the person's identity, vague.
Yaccarino has led advertising at NBCUniversal for more than a decade, leading a team of more than 2,000 people, according to her LinkedIn profile. That's larger than Twitter's estimated workforce, now about 1,500 employees, or roughly 20% of the company's size pre-Musk.
Before NBCUniversal, Yaccarino headed ad sales and marketing at Turner Broadcasting System, currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, for more than a decade.
In December, Musk polled Twitter users about resigning as its chief executive. "Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll," he tweeted.
Of the 17.5 million responses, 58% said "Yes."
Musk and Yaccarino shared a stage weeks earlier
Yaccarino and Musk appeared on stage together at a marketing conference in Miami in April.
She pressed Musk about Twitter's new "Freedom of Speech, Not Reach" safety policy, aimed at preserving the "right to express their opinions and ideas without fear of censorship."
Musk said that if someone wants to say something that is "technically legal" but "by most definitions hateful," Twitter would allow it to stay on the site but behind a "warning label."
When asked by Yaccarino how Twitter will ensure advertisements don't appear next to negative content, Musk said the site has "adjacency controls" to prevent that from happening.
Twitter has seen advertising sales plummet in a harsh economic climate for tech companies and the media industry.
In the weeks following Musk's acquisition last fall, more than half of Twitter's top 100 advertisers fled the site, citing warnings from media buyers.
Advertising had accounted for the majority of Twitter's revenue before Musk took the company private, according to SEC filings.
Yaccarino is the second executive to leave the network in recent weeks. Its parent company, Comcast, ousted NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell after an employee filed a formal complaint accusing him of sexual harassment.
Yaccarino was set to participate in a key marketing presentation for NBCUniversal next week in New York commonly called the "upfronts," where media companies aim to persuade brands to spend big dollars on commercial time.
veryGood! (421)
Related
- Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to kick off fundraising effort for Ohio women’s suffrage monument
- Coronavirus FAQ: Is Paxlovid the best treatment? Is it underused in the U.S.?
- Today’s Climate: September 15, 2010
- 18 Grossly Satisfying Beauty Products With Instant Results
- 1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC
- U.S. Climate Pledge Hangs in the Balance as Court Weighs Clean Power Plan
- Man charged with murder after 3 shot dead, 3 wounded in Annapolis
- Perceiving without seeing: How light resets your internal clock
- 'Red One' review: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans embark on a joyless search for Santa
- Inside South Africa's 'hijacked' buildings: 'All we want is a place to call home'
Ranking
- Spirit Airlines cancels release of Q3 financial results as debt restructuring talks heat up
- Transcript: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on Face the Nation, June 11, 2023
- Today’s Climate: September 14, 2010
- In Pennsylvania, One Senate Seat With Big Climate Implications
- Climate Advocacy Groups Say They’re Ready for Trump 2.0
- Over half of car crash victims had drugs or alcohol in their systems, a study says
- Newest doctors shun infectious diseases specialty
- U.S. Navy Tests Boat Powered by Algae
Recommendation
-
Richard Allen found guilty in the murders of two teens in Delphi, Indiana. What now?
-
Coal Lobbying Groups Losing Members as Industry Tumbles
-
New York City mandates $18 minimum wage for food delivery workers
-
A major drugmaker plans to sell overdose-reversal nasal spray Narcan over the counter
-
When does Spirit Christmas open? What to know about Spirit Halloween’s new holiday venture
-
Bleeding and in pain, she couldn't get 2 Louisiana ERs to answer: Is it a miscarriage?
-
Why Adam Levine is Temporarily Returning to The Voice 4 Years After His Exit
-
Spring Is Coming Earlier to Wildlife Refuges, and Bird Migrations Need to Catch Up