Twitter CEO Elon Musk has many irons in the fire with his tech career.
But he’s taking one major responsibility off of his plate.
And Elon Musk made one announcement about his future that just changed everything.
Elon Musk shook up the world of Big Tech when he bought Twitter and became the social media giant’s CEO.
The billionaire entrepreneur stated this role as Twitter CEO was only going to be temporary until he found someone to hand over the reins of leadership while he transitions to a behind the scenes role.
“I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job,” Musk said in December after Twitter users voted to replace him as CEO.
Musk hinted that he finally found someone to take over the job of CEO of Twitter, which has rebranded as the X Corporation as part of his vision for the company’s future.
“Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” Musk said. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
He unveiled Twitter’s new CEO the next day, Linda Yaccarino.
Yaccarino is a former Chairman of Global Advertising & Partnerships at NBCUniversal and is expected to leverage her background in advertising to help the social media site achieve profitability.
Musk said that Yaccarino would oversee the business operations of Twitter while he focuses on “product design & new technology.”
“I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!” Musk said. “@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology. Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app.”
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.
Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Musk, who counts Starlink, Tesla, and SpaceX among his companies, can now hand off the day-to-day job of running Twitter to Yaccarino.
Boosting Twitter’s ad revenue is expected to be the key to the social media site getting out of the red.
Yaccarino’s background in advertising made some users concerned that censorship could be returning to make the site more advertiser friendly.
Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, tried to downplay fears that censorship could ramp up under the new CEO.
“I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early,” Musk said to users concerned about Yaccarino’s globalist background. “I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.”
I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early. I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Users will be watching Twitter’s new CEO like a hawk to see if the social media site changes direction on censorship.
