X's Linda Yaccarino has given up her post as the CEO of the social media platform. Two years into her stint as the face of the organization, she announced her resignation on the social media platform today. In her farewell message, Linda tried to keep things positive, expressing gratitude to Elon Musk and pride in her team’s achievements. The message posted on X read as follows:
When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App."
She then went on to add:
"I’m incredibly proud of the X team - the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable. We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users—especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence. This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform. Now, the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai,"
What's next for Linda Yaccarino?
Prior to her entry at X, Linda Yaccarino had already carved a very profitable career in media and advertising services, featuring respectable names like Turner Entertainment and NBCUniversal in her CV. She became a part of X in 2023 and was tasked to turn the tables around on the platform under the supervision of Elon Musk.
Linda Yaccarino's primary task was focused on rebuilding the relationships with advertisers who had previously left the platform, and she was able to deliver on that front, with advertising sales predicted to surge 16.5% this year (according to Bloomberg). She also had to douse a lot of fires in her role as the CEO of X while she navigated the challenges of public relations and content moderation.
Linda and Elon Musk reportedly enjoyed a good relationship with each other, and in the wake of her resignation, Musk has even tried to contact her through social media and acknowledged her work. Social media has greeted her departure with a lot of surprise, and industry experts seem to be worried about the new direction of leadership.
Linda Yaccarino's resignation also comes at a most precarious time for the social media platform, with the Grok AI chatbot controversy already making a huge dent in the advertisers' confidence. While Linda has not divulged details about her next course of action, how Elon Musk & company decide to manage the leadership situation will go a long way towards setting the stage for the next phase of the social media platform.