Elon Musk is no longer the CEO of Twitter
- Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCU ad sales chief, said she started the job on Monday, more than two weeks ahead of schedule
- Elon Musk announced last month he had found a replacement for the Twitter CEO role
Around 8pm, the former NBCU ad sales chief tweeted: “It happened – first day in the books!”
Yaccarino was originally slated to start around June 22, since Musk tweeted on May 11 that she would start in six weeks. But The Information first reported that she would instead take the reins more than two weeks ahead of schedule.
“My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops,” Musk said.
He’d been in the role since buying Twitter for US$44 billion last October. According to one stakeholder, Fidelity, the company is now worth one-third of that.
Musk first said he would step down as Twitter CEO in December after users voted in a poll.
Although as recently as April, he was instead joking that his dog was now the boss.
Yaccarino assumes the tough task of making Twitter profitable and revitalising its advertising business.
According to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times, Twitter’s US ad revenue is down 59 per cent compared to the same period last year – and it’s regularly falling short of weekly projections by as much as 30 per cent.
Insider reported Monday that Musk is prioritising Twitter’s live video service. Some advertisers speculate that he wants to make the platform video-centric, which would make sense given Yaccarino’s expertise in selling ads alongside video content.
Yaccarino’s prompt start follows the resignations of two top execs in Twitter’s safety division.
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Musk said they quit in relation to controversy over Twitter limiting the visibility of “What is a Woman?” – a documentary about transgender people made by conservative commentator Matt Walsh.
Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that did not address the inquiry.
