Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Elon Musk’s X, announced on Wednesday she’s leaving the job.
“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏,” Yaccarino, 61, announced on the social media platform,” formally known as Twitter.
“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,” she wrote. “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.”
Her departure comes at a time when Elon Musk has leaned further into politics, suggesting the US needs a third political party following his public feud with President Trump.
It also comes about a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that X threatened lawsuits against ad buyers such as Verizon (VZ) and Ralph Lauren (RL) if they didn’t spend more. The paper said at least half a dozen companies have struck ad deals after being pressured.
“There was no comment in the article [from us],” Yaccarino told Yahoo Finance last month. “There was also no named sources in the article. They had some random third parties comment on unnamed sources. So with the absence of both facts and named sources, and then the absence of the setup of the story, which was the House Judiciary Committee’s findings and evidence that addressed a real coming together to boycott the platform.”
A Long Island native, Yaccarino stepped into the CEO role on June 5, 2023 — about seven months after Tesla (TSLA) chief Elon Musk finalized his $44 billion takeover of the platform. A veteran media executive, Yaccarino spent 12 years at NBCUniversal before being handpicked by Musk to bring in ad sales.
Since taking the reins, she’s navigated Musk’s controversial posts, his full-blown support of Donald Trump, and backlash over his DOGE initiative to cut government waste, which was followed by the recent breakup between the president and the billionaire.
The social media app has been pushing subscriptions to diversify revenue and drive Musk’s “everything app” vision. X will also launch X Money this year with peer-to-peer payments. Investments and trading capabilities could follow.
As Yahoo Finance’s executive editor Brian Sozzi recently reported, Musk’s AI startup xAI completed a takeover of X valued at $33 billion, below the $44 billion he shelled out. Musk said at the time of the deal that X is valued at $45 billion, excluding $12 billion in debt (which he took out for his purchase).
Ines Ferre is a Senior Business Reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
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