Who Is Linda Yaccarino, The Possible Female CEO Of Twitter?

Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@aakashg0)

Source: IANS, DW

As Elon Musk broke his silence on who will take over from him as Twitter CEO after a “painful” acquisition, all eyes are now on Linda Yaccarino, NBC Universal’s chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships.

Although Musk is yet to reveal the name of the upcoming female CEO who will take over in six weeks, according to The Washington Post, Yaccarino “could serve to calm advertiser fears while balancing Musk’s demand for sweeping changes to Twitter’s policies on content moderation“.

Musk’s role will transition to being executive chair and CTO, “overseeing product, software and system operations”. Musk joined Yaccarino for an onstage interview at a marketing conference in Miami Beach in the US.

Yaccarino oversees about 2,000 workers in her role, similar to the current reduced Twitter staff after the massive sacking by Musk after his $44 billion takeover late last year. Her team oversees the monetisation strategy for Peacock, the network’s streaming service.

Yaccarino’s team has also generated more than $100 billion in ad sales and entered partnerships with companies including Apple, Snapchat, BuzzFeed, Twitter and YouTube, according to her bio.

When his followers asked him about Yaccarino’s appointment, Musk replied: “The commitment to open source transparency and accepting a wide range of viewpoints remains unchanged.”

In a Twitter poll last year, Musk asked his millions of followers: “Should I step down as head of Twitter?”

“I will abide by the results of this poll,” he had posted. The poll amassed more than 17 million votes, with 57.5 per cent of respondents calling for him to step aside. However, Musk did not step down.

Meanwhile, Musk had announced on Thursday that he had found a replacement to become Twitter’s new CEO. “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in 6 weeks!” Musk tweeted. “My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”

Musk became the owner and chief executive of Twitter in late October. He tweeted in December that he would step down as CEO “as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.”

Twitter Inc. shares closed higher on Thursday due to Musk’s announcements. Investors have grown concerned that Musk’s active management of Twitter has steered his attention away from his other prominent businesses — electric car company Tesla and space exploration firm SpaceX.

The South-African born billionaire’s stint at the helm of Twitter has been characterized as chaotic.

Musk fired much of the company’s staff, including then CEO Parag Agrawal, upon his takeover. He also vowed to loosen moderation guildelines, leading to criticism that the platform is becoming a hub for hate speech and misinformation.

Another new policy introduced by Musk was that of “Twitter Blue,” where users would pay $8 (€7.3) a month to verify their accounts with the coveted blue checkmark.

Twitter users who were verified with the check mark under the earlier system lost their status after the introduction of “Twitter Blue,” and were instead coaxed into paying the monthly fee. This ultimately meant verified status began to lose its meaning, with impersonations of celebrities, businesses, government organizations and others soon inundating the platform.

Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has also posted tweets alluding to conspiracy theories, such as the unfounded claim that a recent deadly shooting in Allen, Texas was a “psyop.”