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Linda Yaccarino has resigned as X’s CEO for two years in a role that attempts to back up advertising dollars while dealing with platform owner Elon Musk’s water banking moves.
In X’s post, announcing X’s decision, Yaccarino said that “I decided to resign” but thanked the billionaire entrepreneurs, citing “a lifetime opportunity to carry out the company’s extraordinary mission.”
“Now X is entering a new chapter in Xai, so the best ones haven’t come yet,” she added.
Mask artificial intelligence startup Xai acquired X for $45 billion in March, combining the data, models, computing power and talent from both companies.
“Thank you for your contribution,” Musk replied in a post by Jaccarino. The company has not announced a successor.
Yaccarino’s resignation came the day after Grok, the Xai chatbot integrated into X. Xai’s chatbot repeatedly praised Adolf Hitler, sharing anti-Semitic rhetoric on the platform, sparking public rage.
At the end of Tuesday, Xai announced it had deleted several posts and was taking “actions to ban hate speech before X’s Grok post.”
Yaccarino, a veteran of Madison Avenue who was previously head of advertising at NBCuniversal, was appointed to lead the platform in mid-2023.
However, Musk is actively and proactively working on X’s decision-making and product development, with critics claiming that he has revealed the limits of Jaccarino’s power.
The decision to integrate Xai into Xai “reduced the importance of the legacy advertising business”, supervised by Yaccarino, said Lou Pascalis, CEO of Marketing Consultant AJL Advisory and former friend of the former X-Boss. “It’s clear that the priority is subscription revenue,” he added.
Her departure comes at a difficult time for the vast business empire of masks. The billionaire is under pressure from investors who claim he was distracted by politics and served in Donald Trump’s administration and then worked with the US president.
Omed Afshar, one of Musk’s longtime libers, left his job at Tesla last month, and electric car makers are struggling with sluggish sales and declining stock prices.
Musk in May promised to retreat from politics, posting that he would “be very focused on X/Xai and Tesla.” But last week, the world’s wealthiest man said he would start a new US political party.
Politics may have also been a factor in Jaccarino’s departure. Even though Musk had been making public spits with Trump, Jaccarino, a devoted Republican, remained a strong supporter of the president.
Trump invited her to an event at Rose Garden in May. There, he praised her support for Take I Down Act, which aimed to protect children from online exploitation. “Thank you, Linda,” Trump said at the event. “You’re doing a great job. That’s a big deal, isn’t it?”
Jaccarino’s longtime best friend said, “You can’t underestimate all of that Trump.”
In her time at X, Yaccarino was tasked with reviving advertisers who spent time on masking decisions to ease moderation on the platform, and advertisers who had pulled back his own provocative, sometimes conspiracy-covered posts.
As CEO, she has sought to improve X’s video capabilities, improve relationships with creators and sports leagues, and develop X Money, digital wallets and peer-to-peer payment services.
In an interview with the Financial Times last month, Yaccarino said 96% of the company’s advertising clients were reported even before the acquisition returned to the platform.
However, the advertising business continues to face challenges, tensions with marketers have repeatedly flare up, and Musk has publicly denounced those who boycott the platform.
Several advertisers and agency executives said they remained cautious about running ads on X, citing high levels of hate speech and toxic content, but some spent only a small amount.
Advertisers spending on the platform were first boosted by Musk’s close relationship with Trump.
Last month, Yaccarino opposed allegations that a social media company recently threatened its brand in a lawsuit if it failed to purchase ads on X.
Talking to FT, she dismissed a Wall Street Journal report as “hearsay” that half a dozen brands, including Verizon and Ralph Lauren, made deals to buy advertisements after receiving the threat.
“It’s an unknown source and a random third-party commenter,” Jaccarino said.
Yaccarino took over the role from Musk, who bought the company for $44 billion in October 2022. He signaled his time after facing concerns from Tesla investors that the chief hadn’t focused enough on the automaker.
