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On Thursday, Elon Musk announced that there will be a new CEO for Twitter and that he will transition to a product and technical position. The identity of the new CEO, who will begin in approximately six weeks, was not disclosed by Musk in his tweet. However, according to sources cited by CNBC’s Julia Boorstin, Linda Yaccarino, the global advertising chair of NBCUniversal, is in advanced discussions for the position.
He further stated that he would transition to the position of executive chairman and chief technology officer, where he would be responsible for overseeing the company’s product, software, and systems operations.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023
Tesla’s shares surged more than 2% following Elon Musk’s announcement, suggesting that investors were satisfied with his decision to move to a product and technical role at Twitter. Some Tesla shareholders had previously expressed concern that Musk was too preoccupied with his Twitter responsibilities and should focus more on the electric vehicle company, where he also serves as CEO. In April, a group of progressive Tesla shareholders called on the company’s board to ensure that Musk would devote more attention to the automobile business.
After acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in October, Elon Musk, who also heads the reusable rocket maker SpaceX, quickly took action. He dismissed top executives and laid off hundreds of employees, making his presence felt at the social media giant.
Twitter’s core advertising business has struggled under Musk’s leadership, with several companies halting their paid promotional campaigns due to an increase in offensive speech and hateful rhetoric on the platform, as documented by several advocacy groups. However, potential new CEO Linda Yaccarino is a well-connected and experienced operator in the advertising industry, and her appointment could help Twitter improve its advertising business.
In an attempt to make up for the loss in ad revenue, Musk introduced a new subscription service called Twitter Blue, which offers extra features such as the ability to write longer tweets. However, in April, Twitter removed “legacy” blue checkmarks from users who were not paying for the service and had their identities verified, which raised concerns about possible impersonation. Government and some corporate accounts will still be verified with silver and gold icons, respectively.
He has also been embroiled in political controversy by allowing previously banned users back on the platform and making statements such as claiming that the media is biased against white and Asian people.
During Musk’s time as Twitter’s CEO, the platform has experienced multiple technical glitches and outages. Some of these incidents occurred during large-scale layoffs that Musk claimed were essential to the company’s financial well-being. Recently, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson revealed that he would be launching a new show on Twitter after being terminated by his former employer.
