NBCUniversal’s former head of advertising, Linda Yaccarino, has been named the new chief executive officer of Twitter. Yaccarino, 60, will focus on running the social network’s business operations as Elon Musk steps down to become an executive chair and chief technology officer, focusing on product design and new technology. NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, announced Yaccarino’s departure Friday, effective immediately.
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44B in October, said last year he would step down as the company’s head, following an informal Twitter poll that saw nearly 58% of users voting in favor of Musk resigning from the role. Yaccarino joins Twitter as the company reportedly struggles to retain advertisers, having lost an estimated 40% of its year-over-year revenue in December since Musk’s takeover. Musk, in April, said advertisers had returned to the platform, but didn’t elaborate further.
