After buying San Francisco-based social media site Twitter last fall, billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hired Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of X Corp, formerly known as Twitter. Yaccarino, an advertising executive with decades of experience, will take on the role of running the company’s business operations, leaving Musk to focus on product design and new technology.
Yaccarino worked at NBCUniversal for a decade and oversaw integrating its ad sales platforms with those of Comcast. Her most recent title was Chairman, Advertising and Client Partnerships, and she oversaw all market strategy and advertising revenue, which totaled nearly $10 billion, for NBCUniversal’s entire portfolio of broadcast, cable, and digital assets. Before joining NBCUniversal, Yaccarino held a variety of roles at Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and several media sales outlets.
Yaccarino is known for pushing the ad industry for change, including advocating for relying less heavily on Nielsen ratings for measurement and introducing a digital platform called One Platform that makes it easier to buy ads across a variety of different media in an effort to better compete for ads against social media companies and traditional media companies.
Mark DiMassimo, founder and creative chief of ad agency DiGo, described Yaccarino as a “marketer’s leader” who understands what marketers need. According to Dave Campanelli, Chief Investment Officer of media buying firm Horizon Media, Yaccarino’s understanding of what advertisers need to see from a brand safety perspective will help attract advertisers back to the platform.
Brian Wieser of strategic advisory firm Madison and Wall noted that Twitter has built a big team that has made a lot of innovative products and supported the company’s growth, and Yaccarino will bring her understanding of the industry and her experience in advertising to Twitter. The question now is, will Yaccarino have free rein to make changes or will it be the same old, same old under Musk’s leadership?
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