Linda Yaccarino resigns as CEO of X

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has announced her resignation after two years at the helm of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The announcement, of course, came in a post on X.

Yaccarino did not specify the exact reasons for his resignation, but the announcement comes at a particularly sensitive time for X. The resignation follows closely the incident involving Musk's AI chatbot Grok, which made several anti-Semitic remarks and mentioned Hitler in response to discussions about flooding in Texas. Grok, developed by Musk's xAI company, is integrated into the X platform.

The farewell message

In her resignation announcement, Yaccarino expressed gratitude to Elon Musk: "When Elon Musk and I first discussed his vision for X, I recognized this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to advance this organization's extraordinary mission. I am deeply grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the app for everything." The outgoing CEO also highlighted some of her accomplishments during her tenure, including what she described as a " historic corporate recovery " and the priority placed on user safety, especially that of minors, as well as working to restore advertiser trust.

The professional path

Linda Yaccarino was named CEO of X in May 2023 after leaving her role as head of global advertising and partnerships at NBC Universal, where she had worked for over a decade. Her experience in the advertising industry was considered crucial to X, which had seen a mass exodus of advertisers following Musk's acquisition of Twitter in October 2022.

Yaccarino, of Italian descent, was chosen specifically for her ability to rebuild relationships with advertisers and stabilize the platform's finances. During her tenure, she worked to introduce new features such as Community Notes and the upcoming X Money feature.

The challenges

Yaccarino's tenure has been marked by ongoing challenges related to the management of the platform under Musk's ownership. As early as November 2023, several advertising industry executives had advised Yaccarino to resign to save his reputation , following Musk's controversial statements regarding anti-Semitic content.

The CEO had resisted external pressure, declaring that she deeply believed in X's mission and its employees. However, tensions with Musk increased over time, with the entrepreneur pressuring her to increase profits and further cut expenses , even leading to the firing of Joe Benarroch, Yaccarino's right-hand man.

The future

Yaccarino indicated that X will enter " a new chapter " with xAI, though she did not provide specific details about this transition or the company's future direction. The outgoing CEO described X as " a digital marketplace for all voices and the most powerful cultural signal in the world " and expressed confidence in the platform's future success. Yaccarino's resignation marks the end of an important chapter for X, which will now face the challenge of finding new leadership as the platform continues to evolve and transform.