Confirmed: Linda Yaccarino replaces Elon Musk as new Twitter CEO
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, had announced earlier that he would be stepping down from his position in the next six weeks.
In a tweet on Thursday, May 11, Musk revealed that the social media platform would have a new female CEO, but failed to disclose her identity.
"Excited to announce that I've hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops," Musk wrote.
Although the identity of the new CEO was not officially announced, sources suggested that Linda Yaccarino, the head of advertising at NBCUniversal, was the top candidate for the job.
According to reports, she had been in talks with Musk about the position lately.
Amid the rumors, Mr. Musk in a tweet on Friday, May 12, confirmed that the female CEO he spoke about is indeed Madam Yaccarino, as was speculated.
Mr. Musk will now occupy a new role as executive chairperson and chief technology officer, which will see him oversee the product, software, and sysops of the platform.
The new CEO, Yaccarino, will be in charge of the day-to-day running of the platform and address some of the concerns that have been raised.
"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," he announced.
"Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app," he added.
Yaccarino has a wealth of experience in the media industry, having worked at NBCUniversal for over a decade.
She has also been responsible for the company's advertising sales and client partnerships, making her a strong candidate for the role of CEO at Twitter.
The news has been welcomed by many Twitter users who have been critical of Musk's tenure.
One of the issues that have caused concern is the removal of blue legacy account checkmarks in favor of Twitter's paid Blue option, which many say makes it difficult to verify authentic accounts.