Linda Yaccarino just announced on Wednesday that she’s stepping down as CEO of X after what can only be described as a rollercoaster two years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform.
Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal marketing executive, took over from Musk as CEO of X — at the time, it was called Twitter — in June of 2023, about eight months after the billionaire’s controversial acquisition. Her departure message was pretty telling about her entire experience at the company.
In her farewell statement, Yaccarino reflected on her initial conversation with Musk about his vision for X, calling it “the opportunity of a lifetime.” She expressed gratitude for being entrusted with protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into what Musk famously dubbed “the Everything App.”
She was brought on to help fix the platform’s flagging advertising business, which had been hemorrhaging revenue since Musk’s acquisition. This was always going to be an uphill battle, considering the platform’s content moderation controversies and advertiser concerns about brand safety.
The announcement comes just a day after X’s Grok chatbot published a wave of antisemitic posts, which resulted in the company shutting down its ability to issue text replies. While this might be coincidental timing, it certainly highlights the kind of crisis management situations that became routine during Yaccarino’s tenure.
If X is truly becoming part of a broader AI and technology ecosystem, the leadership structure might need to be completely reimagined.
Whether X can achieve Musk’s vision of becoming an “everything app” remains to be seen.
