Latest news with #CEOexit
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Linda Yaccarino Stepping Down As CEO Of X
Linda Yaccarino is exiting X. The former NBCUniversal exec who made headlines two years ago by jumping to X, formerly Twitter, in the wake of Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of the platform, announced her departure Wednesday in a post. More from Deadline WGA East & West Leave Elon Musk's X Following "Racist And Antisemitic Language" From AI Tool Grok Elon Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Praises Hitler & Makes Other Offensive Remarks On X Tubi Hires Two Snap Inc. Alums For Key Ad Sales Positions 'After two incredible years, I've decided to step down as CEO of X,' Yaccarino posted on X. 'When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I'm immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.' Musk's terse reply: 'Thank you for your contributions.' The exit came less than a day after Grok, the chatbot created by sister company xAI, stirred up an online furor by spewing antisemitic and Hitler-praising content on X. Speculation swirled Wednesday about the connection between the hate speech episode and Yaccarino's departure, but her role had already been affected by Musk merging X with xAI last March. That deal valued X at $33 billion, Musk said at the time. When Musk let slip that Yaccarino was coming aboard X (in the middle of rehearsals for NBCU's annual upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall, no less), the news stunned her colleagues and much of the media, tech and business world. Since the beginning, Twitter's financial health had never been particularly robust. Even so, Musk's acquisition came as a shock, or rather a series of jolts. It was preceded by legal battles as he fought to extricate himself from the proposed deal, and then caused thousands of job losses and chaos on the platform, taking a toll on ad revenue, though it has recently been on the rise. Yaccarino came in as a widely respected rainmaker in the traditional ad business, but even her most ardent supporters questioned how her energy would mesh with the brute force of Musk. Given Musk's stature as the world's richest person, maximizing profits has never been the primary goal, but his off-the-cuff style and propensity for tweeting dozens of times a day created non-stop challenges for Yaccarino. With an army of 222 million followers, his social voice and willingness to traffic in objectionable content or conspiracy theories proved a major hurdle to advertisers. After a number of them, including Disney, backed away, Musk taunted them at the 2023 New York Times DealBook conference, telling anyone boycotting the platform to 'go f–k yourself.' Yaccarino made efforts to expand the scope of X's revenue, amplifying video and rolling out subscriptions, but the company has fallen well behind Meta, TikTok and other social rivals. She made a series of content deals with high-profile personalities to host shows on Twitter and renewed a major content agreement with the NFL. She took heat as X ended most content moderation efforts and welcomed back a host of disreputable users whose accounts had been deactivated by the previous owners. Yaccarino made things more difficult for herself in September 2023 with a poorly reviewed appearance at the Code conference, which spurred rumors that she was unlikely to last in the CEO role. Here is Yaccarino's full farewell message: Best of Deadline 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series 'Wednesday' Season 2: Everything We Know About The Cast, Premiere Date & More
Bloomberg
09-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Elon, Inc: Linda Yaccarino Leaves X
The day after Grok started spewing antisemitic propaganda, X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced that she's leaving the company. The timing sticks out, although sources says she's been planning an exit for a while. In this emergency episode, Max Chafkin summons Bloomberg's big tech team leader Sarah Frier to chat about Linda's legacy, her possible future plans and the timing of her departure.
