Linda Yaccarino is stepping down as CEO of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, after two years in the role. She joined the company shortly after Elon Musk acquired it for $44 billion in 2022 and has since led X through revenue downturns and repeated reputational crises. Yaccarino announced her resignation in a post on X today (July 9). Calling the job “the opportunity of a lifetime,” she praised Musk for “entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.” Musk thanked Yaccarino for her work in a brief reply.
Yaccarino’s tenure was defined largely by efforts to restore advertising revenue. Following Musk’s takeover, the platform suffered a sharp decline in ad sales due to changes in content moderation and platform policy. At one point, X filed a lawsuit against an advertising industry coalition, accusing it of organizing an ad boycott.
She also navigated the company through a number of crises. Most recently, X came under fire after its official account posted antisemitic remarks generated by Grok, an A.I. chatbot developed by Musk’s startup xAI. In April, xAI acquired X in an all-stock deal that valued the platform at $33 billion.
Meanwhile, user dissatisfaction has grown amid Musk’s increasing political involvement with the Trump administration, leading millions to migrate to alternative platforms like Bluesky.
Before joining X, Yaccarino spent roughly a decade at NBCUniversal, most recently as chairman of global advertising and partnerships. She left that position in May 2023 to join X. “I’m incredibly proud of the X team—the historic business turnaround we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable,” said Yaccarino. “I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world.”