Twitter: Elon Musk is negotiating with a possible new CEO – 05/12/2023 – Market

Elon Musk is in talks to hire Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s vice president of publicity, as Twitter’s new CEO, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The billionaire has been chief executive of Twitter since the company’s $44 billion (R$218.6 billion) acquisition in October, but signaled his position would be temporary.

Without naming a successor, Musk wrote on Twitter Thursday that he was excited to announce that he had hired a new chief executive for X/Twitter. The person would start working in approximately six weeks.

Earlier this Friday (12), NBCUniversal announced that Yaccarino would leave the company “effective immediately”. His abrupt departure comes just days before NBCUniversal’s annual “upfronts” presentation — the biggest event of the year for television advertising.

Yaccarino, who had been mentioned as a candidate for NBCUniversal’s chief executive after the departure of Jeff Shell last month, said on Friday that “it’s been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal.” The company did not say why she left.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that she was in talks for the position on Twitter.

Musk and Yaccarino recently appeared together at a conference in Miami, where they gave a talk titled “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships.” They seemed to have a good rapport onstage, with Yaccarino demonstrating a talent for public speaking, according to people who watched the performance.

The announcement comes as shareholders in Tesla, the maker of electric cars that the billionaire also runs, are putting increasing pressure on him to refocus on the company, whose shares have fallen by 30% over the past 12 months.

Shares in the company rose about 2% on the news of the Twitter command.

Musk said he would move into the roles of chief executive and vice president of technology at Twitter, “overseeing products, software and sysops [operações de sistemas]”.

Investors and Twitter’s bank creditors are also eager for Musk to select new managers as soon as possible, according to people familiar with the matter.

Yaccarino, a well-regarded advertising executive, would bring a close relationship with marketers and advertising agencies to Twitter. Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said this would be a “top-notch signing” and “a big step forward, with Musk finally showing he’s not clueless”.

In December, he said he would resign as Twitter’s chief executive as soon as he found someone “foolish enough to take the job” after polling users about whether he should step down. The poll attracted 17.5 million votes, and 57.5% of voters called for him to step down.

His six months at the helm of the company were marked by a significant change, in which he reduced headcount by around 90% and relaxed content moderation. The measures have alienated some high-profile users and advertisers, hurting the social media platform’s revenue.

Musk has fluctuated between trying to court advertisers to bolster Twitter’s main source of revenue and publicly criticizing marketers who have turned away from the platform because they are concerned about moderation issues.

Yaccarino, who has worked at NBCUniversal for nearly 12 years, is one of the few advertising executives to defend Musk. In November, shortly after the takeover, she said she “wouldn’t bet against” the executive and that people should “give the guy a minute,” according to reports at the time.

In March, Musk said Twitter’s finances were improving after its cost-cutting efforts, to the point where the company could return to positive cash flow next quarter. It has also announced several new features in recent weeks, including encrypted messaging.

Translated by Paulo Migliacci