Linda Yaccarino | |
|---|---|
.png) Yaccarino in 2014 | |
| Born | December 21, 1963 |
| Education | Pennsylvania State University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | CEO of X Corp. and Twitter (currently rebranding to X) |
| Predecessor | Elon Musk |
| Spouse | Claude Madrazo |
| Children | 2 |
Linda Yaccarino (born December 21, 1963) is an American media executive. She previously held the position of chairman of global advertising & partnerships for NBCUniversal.[1] In June 2023, Yaccarino succeeded Elon Musk as the chief executive officer of X Corp.[2]
Yaccarino grew up in Deer Park, New York.[3] She graduated from Pennsylvania State University's Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1985.[4]
Yaccarino worked at Turner Entertainment for 15 years, becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer. She is credited with modernizing the company's ad sales strategies.[5][6]
Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in October 2011.[5] As the head of NBCUniversal's advertising sales, she led a department of over 2,000 people, and played a key role in the launch of the Peacock streaming service.[1][7] Though praised by advertisers and acknowledged as a hardworking saleswoman, associates from her time at NBCU said her tenure was "marked by instability," with multiple reorganizations creating a decline in the culture of the department.[8]
Yaccarino joined the Ad Council in 2014. Yaccarino assumed the position of chair of the Ad Council's board of directors in January 2021, for a term that ran until June 30, 2022.[9] As chair, Yaccarino partnered with the Biden administration in 2021 to create a coronavirus vaccination campaign that featured Pope Francis.[10]
In 2018, President Donald Trump appointed her to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.[11]
Yaccarino resigned from NBCUniversal on May 12, 2023, and on the same day, Elon Musk announced that Yaccarino would be the new chief executive officer of X Corp. and Twitter.[12] Yaccarino had long expressed an interest in Twitter. On three occasions while at NBCUniversal, Yaccarino proposed that Comcast executives buy Twitter outright. Early conversations around a potential $3 billion offer never resulted in a deal.[13]
Fortune and The New Republic described Yaccarino as a former Trump appointee who follows a number of conspiracy theorist and far-right accounts on Twitter.[14][15] Upon her appointment, the Financial Times noted that Yaccarino's previous work with the World Economic Forum had earned backlash from some "more conspiracy-minded Musk fans" who distrusted international political organizations. Musk, a harsh critic of the WEF, stated that Yaccarino's links to the organization would not harm his self-proclaimed commitment to free speech on Twitter.[16]
Throughout her tenure at X, Yaccarino has been criticized as a CEO in name only, undermined by Musk's presence and behavior. Upon her appointment, experts were concerned Yaccarino's role would be an example of the glass cliff. Yaccarino has said the implication that she had not earned her role saddened her, stating "I literally went to the business world not even knowing being a woman was a thing."[13][17]
Under Musk's and Yaccarino's leadership, hate speech has increased on the platform,[18][19] which has caused companies to suspend advertising.[20][21] In November 2023, after Musk made comments in support of an antisemitic conspiracy theory, a number of companies, including Yaccarino's former employer, Comcast, paused their advertising with X.[22] Yaccarino attributed the pause in advertising to a Media Matters for America report that claimed ads on X from major corporations had appeared next to white nationalist and Nazi content, rather than to Musk's comments; in a company-wide email, Yaccarino said the article was "misleading and manipulated."[23][24] Amid the controversy, Yaccarino was privately urged to resign by a number of advertising executives, including friends.[25]
Yaccarino publicly supported X's lawsuit against Media Matters, posting on X, "You know I'm committed to truth and fairness. Here's the truth. Not a single authentic user on X saw IBM's, Comcast's, or Oracle's ads next to the content in Media Matters' article."[26] At a company meeting, when asked what she would like the outcome of the lawsuit to be, Yaccarino replied, "the validation that Media Matters, unfortunately, manipulates, in this case, not just advertisers, but people in general."[27]
Fortune listed Yaccarino as one of the CEOs who struggled the most in 2023, writing that she "seems either unable or unwilling to restrain her boss from his worst impulses while failing to reassure advertisers that all is under control."[28]
In November 2023, Yaccarino was subpoenaed by a U.S. Senate panel to testify at a hearing on children's online safety.[29]
Yaccarino and her husband, Claude Madrazo, have two children and one grandchild. They live in Sea Cliff, New York.[30][13] She is Catholic.[31]
