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Linda Yaccarino is resigning as CEO of X following two years at the helm of Elon Musk's social media firm.
Yaccarino's exit occurs one day following the company's Grok chatbot release.began pushing antisemitic tropesIn response to users, it is not clear that the events were related.
Her departure also occurs several months after Musksold X, his social media company, to xAI, his artificial intelligence venture. The transition officially merged the two entities that were already closely linked, but sparked inquiries about Yaccarino's position within the updated company.
Yaccarino revealed her departure in aposton the platform, expressing that she is "deeply thankful" to Musk for "entrusting me with the task of safeguarding free expression, revitalizing the company, and evolving X into the Everything App."
Now, the best is still ahead as X begins a new phase with @xai," she stated in the post. "I'll be supporting you all as you keep making a difference in the world.
Musk responded to Yaccarino's post with aterse responseAppreciate your efforts.
A present X employee, who asked to remain unidentified as they were not permitted to comment publicly, stated that Yaccarino's departure was not entirely unexpected, considering the company's continued difficulties in persuading advertisers to come back to the platform— a task that the experienced marketing executive was hired to address.
In November 2023, Musk made a public statementlashed out at advertisersExiting the platform, she told them to "go f**k yourself." The consequences of that outburst with brands have been "ongoing," according to the employee, and intensified with Musk's role in President Donald Trump's administration.
The merging of X with xAI sparked concerns about the company's focus, as Musk appeared more dedicated to enhancing products rather than managing business operations, according to them.
There has been a lack of clarity, both within and outside the company, regarding what X is meant to be," the employee stated, noting that collaborating with the company's partners is more challenging "if you can't clearly explain our three-year plan.
On Wednesday night, Musk had not issued any company-wide statements to X employees regarding Yaccarino's exit, according to an employee.
A rocky tenure
Yaccarino, a former marketing executive at NBCUniversal,took overSince Musk became CEO of X — previously known as Twitter — in June 2023, roughly eight months after the billionaire acquired the social media platform. She was hired to assist in revitalizing the platform's struggling advertising revenue, following Musk's takeover.alienated brandsdue to his contentious remarks and modifications to the site.
But her time in office has been characterized by ongoing public relations issues, including examination of antisemitic and other harmful content circulating on the platform, going viralunfounded statements regarding global disputesand advertisements that were displayed next to pro-Nazi material on the site. This resulted in somebrands to cut their advertising budgets, for which the X led by Yaccarino filed a lawsuit against an advertising industry group— a legal action Yaccarino shared in a video message directed at all X users, where she criticized what she called a plot to boycott the X platform. (The industry group, Global Alliance for Responsible Media,shut downseveral days following the filing of the lawsuit.
Since Musk assumed control of X, the company has also faced a surge of new rivals, such as Bluesky and Meta's Threads.
Yaccarino frequently promoted the company's "freedom of speech, not freedom of reach" approach, which seeks to restrict the visibility of content that is legally permissible but morally objectionable on the platform. During her tenure, X also announced the implementation of enhanced brand safety measures for advertisers, such as the option to prevent their ads from appearing alongside "targeted hate speech, sexual material, excessive violence, extreme profanity, indecency, spam, and drugs."
However, the company's difficulties increased after X incorporated xAI's Grok chatbot into the platform, allowing users to pose questions to the AI and include it in conversation threads with other users. In May, Grokerroneously brought upA theory about "white genocide" in South Africa, raised in response to unrelated questions. And on Tuesday — weeks after Musk stated he would rebuild the chatbot because he was unhappy with some of its responses that he considered too politically correct — the chatbot spread antisemitic stereotypes. In reaction, xAI mentioned that they removed certain posts and "have taken steps to ban hate speech before Grok is allowed to post on X."
It remains uncertain if Yaccarino, leading the social media division, held any authority over Grok or the company's other artificial intelligence initiatives.
Working alongside Musk
While serving as CEO of X, Yaccarino encountered scrutiny regarding her authority and impact within the company in relation to Musk. The billionaire has claimed to be the company's chief technology officer, overseeing product and technology teams, yet his contentious remarks and seemingly spontaneous policy comments frequently put Yaccarino in a defensive position.
Being the CEO of X was always going to be a challenging position, and Yaccarino remained in the role longer than many anticipated," said Jasmine Enberg, vice president at research company Emarketer, in an emailed statement. "Dealing with an unpredictable owner who never completely stepped back from leadership and kept using the platform as his own personal microphone, Yaccarino had to manage the business while constantly dealing with crises.
Anne Marie Malecha, the CEO of Dezenhall Resources, a company specializing in reputation and crisis management, stated that Musk is "one of those individuals who will do whatever works for him on any given day," which might have placed Yaccarino in a "very challenging situation."
And although X introduced in-app video podcasts featuring well-known personalities such as Khloe Kardashian and various new financial tools, including apartnership with VisaTo enable peer-to-peer transactions, these features are limited in scope, and the platform has not truly evolved into the "everything app" that Yaccarino aimed to develop.
The platform's usage has also declined during her time in charge, dropping from 915.9 million total active app users and unique website visitors in the month she assumed control to 684.2 million last month, as reported by web traffic analysis company Similarweb.
Yaccarino's departure occurs during a challenging period for Musk's ventures,especially Teslaand his political activities have sparked doubts about his capacity and dedication to manage multiple companies. Her exit follows soon after several top-level departures at Tesla, including Omead Afshar, who was Tesla's head of manufacturing and operations.
Musk has also recently been involved in ahigh-profile feuda split has emerged between Musk's circle and Trump's circle, involving President Donald Trump, who he had previously backed, leading to warnings from the White House directed at the billionaire's businesses.
I don't believe anyone thought (Yaccarino) would last this long," said Malecha. "I also don't think anyone expected that Musk would become involved in the political scene as much as he did during that two-year span.
Malecha mentioned that Yaccarino's departure could have been handled during X's merger with xAI, "and honestly, if I were her, I wouldn't be upset about leaving right now, given what I'm observing from this AI."
The narrative has been enhanced with more information and background.
Hadas Gold from Tech Bytes Lab contributed to this report.
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