Musk to step down as Twitter CEO. NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino could be his replacement

NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino is in talks to become Twitter’s chief executive, the Wall Street Journal reported, after owner Elon Musk’s announcement that he had found a new leader for the social network and would shift into a new role as chief technologist.

In a tweet Thursday, Musk said the company’s new CEO will start in about six weeks, without naming the individual. Yaccarino, who is chair of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal Media, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, and a representative for NBCUniversal said she was in rehearsals for the company’s Upfront presentations to advertisers.

Musk already has a friendly relationship with Yaccarino, who interviewed him last month at a major advertising conference in Miami and called him “friend” and “buddy” on stage. Recently, Twitter and NBCU expanded their Olympic Games partnership.

“I can say that she would be my first choice, and my only choice, to save the platform from the hands of its owner,” Lou Paskalis, who advises marketers as chief strategy officer at Ad Fontes Media, said on Twitter. “I still cannot understand why she’d subject herself to @elonmusk, however!”

Puck News’ Dylan Byers also reported via a tweet that Musk planned to name Yaccarino as Twitter’s CEO, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October and indicated that he would be in charge only for a limited time to complete the organizational overhaul he thought the company needed to prosper. Musk complained of having “too much work” and sleeping at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters while implementing radical changes.

In December, Musk asked his Twitter followers whether he should step down as CEO, and 57.5% said yes.

Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has drawn criticism for his abrupt policy changes and neglect of his other businesses. The next CEO of Twitter will have to deal with an advertiser exodus. Despite a slight uptick in daily users since early 2022, Twitter’s revenue has fallen by 50% since October as a result of a “massive decline” in advertising, Musk said in March.

He has also changed the corporate name of Twitter’s parent to X Holdings, an entity that could eventually be the parent for all his businesses — an idea he has publicly mused about. Musk has also said he wants to build Twitter beyond social media and into an “everything app,” including financial services.

The company’s Twitter Blue subscription service plan has also been flailing, drawing less than 1% of the user base. Musk has cut thousands of jobs, scaled back the company’s content moderation and allowed accounts previously banned for breaking rules to return.

When Musk first started at Twitter, he brought longtime loyal partners from across his suite of businesses to help him temporarily. There are a few women in the upper ranks of his businesses, though it’s unclear whether he plans to pick someone he already works with to run the social network.

Some other top executives with ties to Musk, or whom pundits speculate might be on the list, include:

• Ella Irwin handles trust and safety at Twitter.
• Robyn Denholm is the chair of Tesla’s board of directors.
• Gwynne Shotwell is SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer and also serves on SpaceX’s board.