Social media giant Twitter has name NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino as its new chief executive officer (CEO), succeeding Elon Musk who bought the company last fall.
In a tweet, Musk said: “I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!
Linda will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology…”
NBCUniversal announced Yaccarino’s departure on May 12, effective immediately. She will now be tasked with managing the fallout from Musk’s takeover of Twitter last October in a blockbuster $44 billion U.S. acquisition.
Since acquiring the company, Musk has taken Twitter private, fired about half its staff, and seen revenue decline by 50% as advertisers flee the social media platform.
At NBC, Yaccarino helped launch the ad-supported streaming service Peacock and led partnerships with a variety of technology companies, including Snapchat (SNAP) and YouTube.
Musk had indicated that he’d only oversee Twitter for a limited time to complete the organizational overhaul he thought the company needed.
However, Musk will remain executive chairman of Twitter going forward and serve as the company’s chief technology officer (CTO).
Musk has said that he wants to eventually build Twitter into an “everything app,” including offering financial services to consumers.
