Moment Linda convinced Elon she was the right woman for the job: NBCUniversal advertising chief takes top job at Twitter – one month after impressing Elon when she interviewed HIM
- The NBCUniversal executive resigned amid reports she has been hired by Elon Musk to become CEO of Twitter
- She quit her role as chairman of global advertising less than 24 hours after Musk announced he’d hired a new CEO to start in six weeks time
- Yaccarino interviewed Musk on April 18 and boasted about her ‘work ethic’ – leading some to speculate the meeting may have sealed the deal
NBCUniversal’s head of advertising, Linda Yaccarino, has resigned amid reports Elon Musk has hired her to become CEO of Twitter.
Her resignation was announced by NBCUniversal on Friday morning – less than 24 hours after reports that Musk, who bought Twitter in October, had hired her as chief executive of the platform.
Yaccarino’s departure from the role of Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships is ‘effective immediately’, NBCUniversal said in a statement.
She was named as Musk’s pick for Twitter CEO shortly after he tweeted that a woman had been hired for the role.
Announcing her resignation from NBCUniversal, Yaccarino said: ‘It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team. We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry—and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together.’
NBCUniversal’s head of advertising Linda Yaccarino has resigned amid reports Elon Musk has hired her to become CEO of Twitter
Elon Musk was interviewed by Linda Yaccarino at a marketing conference on April 18
Yaccarino was reported to Musk’s pick for CEO shortly after he tweeted that a woman had been hired for the job
Yaccarino interviewed Musk at a marketing event on April 18 and began by telling the audience: ‘Many of you in this room know me and you know I pride myself of my work ethic, but buddy, I met my match.’
Observers speculated the interview may have played an important role in Yaccarino’s apparent appointment to the Twitter job.
She also spoke positively about Musk’s ‘push for democratization’ at Twitter during the the POSSIBLE marketing conference in Miami.
Musk announced on Thursday that a new CEO for Twitter had been appointed to start in six weeks.
He tweeted: ‘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.’
Yaccarino is a ten-year veteran of NBCUniversal and is widely-respected for her work in reshaping strategies around gauging the success of campaigns. She also played a leading role in the launch of the ad-supported Peacock streaming service.
Her background makes her an ideal candidate to lead Twitter, after some advertisers paused spending following Musk’s $44 billion takeover.
But it will cause a headache for NBCUniversal, which is currently gearing up for its annual week-long ‘upfront’ event on Monday. The event is its pitch to advertisers and an opportunity for the business to secure millions of dollars.
Linda Yaccarino, pictured at the Golden Globes in January, is a respected ten-year veteran of NBCUniversal
Some advertisers paused spending with Twitter after Musk’s takeover in October and Yaccarino’s appointment will be seen as way to address the issue
Musk announced that he would find a new CEO for Twitter after a poll on the platform in December which asked whether he should step down. Nearly 58 percent of people said yes.
He tweeted after the poll: ‘I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.’
The 51-year-old, currently the world’s second richest man with a net worth of $182 billion, has had a topsy-turvy time at the helm of Twitter.
Musk drew a mixture of praise and criticism for bringing back several banned accounts. He also introduced an $8 monthly subscription fee for Twitter Blue, which allowed anybody to get the blue ticks that were previously reserved for certain individuals.
He’s also slashed around two thirds of Twitter’s workforce since his takeover, dropping staff levels from 7,500 to below 2,000.
