Meet Linda Yaccarino, the media veteran announced as Twitter CEO Elon Musk's replacement

After Twitter owner Elon Musk revealed his plans to step down as the CEO in about six weeks, he announced Linda Yaccarino as his replacement. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!". He also clarified that Linda will focus primarily on business operations, while he will focus on product design & new technology.

I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.

Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023

On Thursday, the billionaire took to the social media platform to declare that he has finally found someone who could fill his shoes so he could focus on the company's software and technological 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," he tweeted.

According to Wall Street Journal, the Twitter boss was in talks to appoint Linda Yaccarino, who currently chairs global advertising and partnerships of the media conglomerate NBCUniversal. According to two sources familiar with the matter, discussions between the duo began weeks ago. Just last month, Yaccarino conducted an interview with Musk at an advertising event held in Miami, Florida.

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

Who is Linda Yaccarino? 

Working for more than a decade with NBCU, Yaccarino is currently the chairman of the company's global advertising and partnerships. She leads NBCU’s advertising sales, and is the woman behind the media giant's ad-supported Peacock streaming service.

Before joining NBCU, she worked at WarnerMedia’s TV operations. Throughout the course of her career, she has spearheaded various operations to boost cash flows via advertising. While her name has surfaced since Musk announced that he had hired a new CEO, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal’s ad-sales business stated that he was unaware of any change in Yaccarino’s plans to work with her current company.

“Linda is in back to back rehearsals for Monday’s upfront,” said spokesperson Joe Benarroch, referring to the yearly sales presentations that the company gives to advertisers. But according to Bank of America's former senior marketing executive Lou Paskalis, Yaccarino “has a unique interest in Twitter."

“She sees opportunity there. Twitter is probably selling advertising at significant discounts in exchange for volume commitments," Paskalis said. For many, Linda Yaccarino is the ideal choice to succeed Musk. After all, who is better to pull Twitter out of its advertiser crisis than an advertising veteran herself?