Twitter owner Elon Musk announced on Twitter that Linda Yaccarino would be the social media platform’s new CEO. Yaccarino, who was the global advertising chief at NBCUniversal, will focus on business operations while Musk will focus on product design and new technology. Musk expressed his excitement for Yaccarino’s hire and said that he was looking forward to working with her to transform Twitter into the “everything app.”
Yaccarino’s Background
Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in 2011 and rose to the top of the company’s global advertising business. She was slated to participate in NBCUniversal’s Upfront event, a sales presentation made to the advertising industry every year in May. Yaccarino brings a wealth of relationships with top chief marketing officers and other advertising executives to Twitter at a time when the platform has seen advertisers flee after Musk’s takeover last year.
Musk’s Acquisition of Twitter
Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October of last year. Soon after, he fired the company’s top brass and laid off thousands of employees. Many companies halted their ad spending on the platform since Twitter has seen an increase in offensive speech and rhetoric. In an attempt to make up for the loss of ad revenue, Musk created a new subscription service, Twitter Blue, which offers features such as the ability to compose longer tweets.
Yaccarino’s Role in Twitter’s Future
During a keynote interview at a marketing conference in Florida in mid-April, Yaccarino and Musk discussed the role marketers play in the future of Twitter, as well as its position in the cultural conversation. Musk reportedly tried to reassure advertisers that Twitter was still a respectable place for their brands.
NBCUniversal’s Response
Yaccarino’s exit from NBCUniversal comes after Jeff Shell was ousted as the company’s CEO. Rather than replacing Shell, NBCUniversal’s top executives will report to Mike Cavanagh, president of parent company Comcast. NBCUniversal said Yaccarino would leave the company, effective immediately, and Mark Marshall, the current president of advertising sales and client partnerships, would become interim chairman of the company’s advertising and partnerships group.
Leave a Reply