Linda Yaccarino is ‘officially’ Elon Musk's next Twitter CEO

Linda Yaccarino is the next CEO of Twitter, according to people close to the situation, who confirmed that she did accept the position.

On Thursday, Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted that he was ready to hand the top job to a person he had not yet named. Immediately after that announcement, sources told Automotive News sister publication Ad Age that it was Yaccarino, chairman of NBCUniversal’s advertising and partnerships group. On Friday, a person with direct knowledge of the move said that it was official.

That came after NBCU announced that Yaccarino was leaving the company, without saying where she was headed. Mark Marshall, NBCU’s president, advertising sales and client partnerships, is now in Yaccarino’s former position as interim chairman of advertising and partnerships, NBCU said.

Twitter declined to comment.

Yaccarino is coming to Twitter as a fixer for its advertising problems, bringing deep connections with brands from her decades in TV ad sales. Musk has had trouble keeping advertisers on board since he completely rearranged the platform in ways that stunned longtime marketing partners. Musk announced on Thursday that he would still very much be involved in the running of Twitter, under the title of chief technology officer and, of course, he still owns the company. Musk said Thursday that the new CEO would join within the next six weeks.

Yaccarino is the “yin” to Musk’s “yang,” said the person with direct insights into the dynamic between the two. For Yaccarino, “she immediately walks in with all these relationships,” this person said. It’s a “calming” move for advertisers, the person said. Meanwhile, Musk continues to be able to tinker with Twitter’s operations as he sees fit, as he has always wanted, this person said.

‘Give the guy a minute’

Yaccarino and Musk have a budding business relationship that has only grown stronger over the seven months since Musk bought Twitter. Yaccarino, who already managed close ties with Twitter as a media partner through NBCU, was one of Musk’s most vocal supporters from Day One. In November, Yaccarino told Ad Age: “You’ve got to give the guy a minute,” and that she wouldn’t “bet against him.” This was a time when Musk was reeling from a brand revolt that saw money wash away from the service he had just bought for $44 billion.

It remains to be seen how much Yaccarino can reverse the ad tide on Twitter, but the bar has been lowered to the point where any return of ad agencies and major brands would be a win. Yaccarino has now become CEO of one of the most powerful social media platforms in the world, and it comes with instant scrutiny.

The “woke” wars that Musk has dabbled in on Twitter are now opened to Yaccarino, who has to navigate the fractured political sensibilities of Twitter’s everyday users. Musk has a legion of fans that look for any signs that brands are preaching about hot-button cultural issues. Musk supporters have credited him with counteracting the social influence of some corporations. At the same time, there is the other set of Twitter users, who are concerned about hateful conduct against at-risk groups, and they worry that Yaccarino will be too beholden to Musk and defer to his sensibilities on politics and culture.

Anyone trying to discern Yaccarino’s leaning by analyzing Twitter follows could have a hard time. “She is coming from the largest media organization in the world, she must be informed on all views,” said the person with insights into her new role at Twitter.

On Twitter, in the past day, a familiar debate has cropped up around Yaccarino, “is she too woke or not woke enough,” this person said. Online sleuths were pouring over her Twitter likes and follows to see if they could put a label on her. “In her role, she should be following everyone.”