X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Wednesday said she is stepping down from her role two years after she assumed the role.
Yaccarino, 61, who was the first permanent CEO Elon Musk hired after buying the platform in 2022, announced the decision in a post on X.
“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,” she said.
Yaccarino continued that she was “grateful” to Musk “for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.”
After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏.
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…
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) July 9, 2025
“I’m incredibly proud of the X team – the historic business turnaround we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable,” she said.
Her tenure came with immediate challenges — particularly Musk’s combative stance toward the advertising industry. In late 2023, he infamously told advertisers boycotting the platform to “go f*** yourself,” creating a rift between the company and major brands.
When was Linda Yaccarino hired ?
Yaccarino, who joined in 2023 after more than a decade leading NBCUniversal’s advertising division, was brought in partly to ease concerns among Tesla investors worried that Musk was neglecting his responsibilities at the electric carmaker. At the time, the company was known as Twitter.
From the moment she joined X, Yaccarino faced a steep uphill task. Musk had swiftly implemented sweeping changes that alienated users, employees, and advertisers alike, most notably by relaxing content moderation rules, which led to a surge in toxic material on the platform. The fallout was immediate, with many advertisers pulling out.
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Beyond overseeing daily operations, a key part of Yaccarino’s mandate was to rebuild trust and restore the fractured relationships that Musk’s overhaul had disrupted as per The New York Times.
Yaccarino’s exit concludes a chaotic chapter at X, the company formerly known as Twitter, which Musk has reshaped dramatically since acquiring it for $44 billion in 2022, according to NYT. Musk has cut roughly 75 per cent of the platform’s workforce, rolled back content moderation rules, and turned X into a personal and political megaphone, the report added.
Advertisers, once a key revenue source, were unsettled by Musk’s changes, leading to a steep decline in the company’s advertising business.
In March, Musk revealed that he had sold X to his artificial intelligence venture, xAI, in an unusual all-stock transaction that underscored the financial entanglements within his corporate empire. Musk said the deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Since then, xAI has reportedly been seeking new funding at a potential valuation of up to $120 billion.
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