Linda Yaccarino to be Twitter CEO, says Musk

Gulf Today Report

Linda Yaccarino, director of global advertising at NBCUniversal, announced that she has resigned from the corporation on Friday, to take up her new role as CEO of Twitter.

This comes a day after Elon Musk announced on Twitter the appointment of a new CEO for Twitter, although he did not mention the name of the new person.

Musk said in his tweet, "The new president will start work in about six weeks."

CNBC reported that "Yaccarino is in advanced talks about this role with Elon Musk."

Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in 2011, as Chair of the Board of Directors of Advertising and Global Partnerships, where she oversees 2,000 employees within an organized team that has achieved more than $100 billion in advertising sales for the company since joining it in 2011, according to her profile on the company's website.

Her team has established partnerships with Apple News, BuzzFeed, Snapchat, Twitter, and many others.

Yaccarino oversees about $13 billion in annual advertising revenue, and has close relationships with marketing and advertising agencies. It is known for its skill in negotiation, and workers in the advertising industry describe it as a "velvet hammer."

A spokesperson from NBCUniversal said, "Yaccarino is running back-to-back rehearsals for the upcoming event, where she will persuade major brand owners to commit to billions of dollars in advertising purchases in the coming seasons."

Working with Trump and Biden

In 2018, Yaccarino was appointed by former US President Donald Trump to head the advertising department in the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, for a period of two years, and Yaccarino also partnered with the White House under the term of current President Joe Biden, in 2021, to launch a campaign to receive the vaccine against Coronavirus, in which Pope Francis participated, according to the Washington Post.

Last month, in Miami, Musk and Yaccarino appeared together at a symposium entitled: “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships” about the role of Twitter in culture and its future for marketers.

During the webinar, Musk tried to reassure advertisers that Twitter is a respectable place for their brands.

NBCUniversal also recently expanded its partnership with Twitter in connection with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, a move Yaccarino alluded to in a tweet to Musk last week.
Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October last year.

Soon after, he sacked the company's top brass and laid off thousands of employees.

Many companies have stopped spending on ads on the platform recently. In an effort to offset the loss of advertising revenue, Musk created a new subscription service, Twitter Blue, which offers features such as the ability to write longer tweets.