Musk names WEF-linked Linda Yaccarino as his successor

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
13 May 2023 09:05

Elon Musk names Linda Yaccarino, NBC's chairman of global advertising and partnerships as his successor for Twitter CEO.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk, center, speaks with Linda Yaccarino, chairman of global advertising and partnerships for NBC, at the POSSIBLE marketing conference, Tuesday, April 18, 2023, in Miami Beach, Florida. (AP)

World Economic Forum-linked and former head of Global Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal has been announced as Elon Musk's successor in the effort to turn Twitter into X, the "everything app" as Musk calls it.

On Friday, prior to Musk's announcement, NBCUniversal announced that Linda Yaccarino would be leaving the company “effective immediately,” to which the latter said, “It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal.”

In turn, Musk made the announcement through a tweet that read, "I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!"

Musk explained in his tweet that Yaccarino "will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology," adding "Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app."

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

Linda Yaccarino: a brief intro

Following the no-payout and sudden departure of former NBCU chief Jeff Shell, it was rumored that Yaccarino could become the new CEO. However, Yaccarino has made the decision to leave NBCU as well and join Twitter as the new CEO.

What is known about Yaccarino is her prominent role at the World Economic Forum. Yaccarino currently sits as the chairman of the Taskforce on the Future of Work and also sits on its Media, Entertainment, and Culture Industry Governors Steering Committee.

Most recently, in Miami, both Musk and Yaccarino appeared in an interview together during a conference and offered the viewers a keynote speech “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships.” During the interview, Yaccarino showed interest in allowing space for advertisers to influence Twitter users under specific regulations, which even Musk found sketchy.

New Twitter CEO, WEF leader and mask enthusiast Linda Yaccarino, sets out her vision for “ad-safe content moderation” to “help develop Twitter into a place” where advertising experts “will be excited about investing more.”pic.twitter.com/4T58xUpNiZ
— Michael P Senger (@michaelpsenger) May 12, 2023

According to Business Insider, some Twitter users expect that Yaccarino's line of questioning pertaining to Musk's free speech policy has underscored her emphasis on advertising as a sign that she might seek to increase content moderation once she becomes Twitter's CEO.

It is also worth noting that in January of 2023, Elon Musk criticized the WEF, which meets annually in Davos, Switzerland, and where the world's most influential and wealthiest meet to discuss various topics. In his January tweet Musk wrote: "How is WEF/Davos even a thing? Are they trying to be the boss of Earth!?" he continued."

WEF is increasingly becoming an unelected world government that the people never asked for and don’t want
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2023

The decision sparked outrage among many Twitter users who are now wondering what the future of the platform looks like and asking Musk to explain why he would appoint a senior WEF member to lead Twitter.