TECH STARTUPS
Former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino formally joined Twitter as the company’s new CEO. After starting her new role on Monday, Ms. Yaccarino went on LinkedIn to update her bio.
Yaccarino, formerly in charge of global advertising at NBCUniversal, expressed her admiration for owner Elon Musk’s visionary goals and how they have inspired her. She shared her excitement about being a part of the transformation of the social media platform and contributing to the creation of a more promising future.
“I’ve long been inspired by [Musk’s] vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!” Yaccarino said in a tweet.
On her first day on the job, she tweeted, “It happened — first day in the books!” without providing additional details.
Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October, he has been serving as the CEO. Musk had previously stated that Linda Yaccarino’s expertise would be instrumental in developing an “everything app” for the platform.
In addition to Yaccarino, Joe Benarroch, a former executive at NBCUniversal, joined Twitter on Monday. During his time at NBCUniversal, he was responsible for communication strategy in the Advertising and Partnerships division, where he reported to Yaccarino.
Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in 2011, and over time, climbed the ranks to become the head of the company’s worldwide advertising business. On Monday, Yaccarino was scheduled to participate in NBCUniversal’s Upfront event at Radio City in New York, which is an annual sales presentation made by the company and its peers to the advertising industry in May.
Yaccarino, a veteran advertising executive, brings with him a vast network of relationships with top chief marketing officers and other advertising executives to Twitter. This comes at a crucial time when Twitter has seen a significant loss of advertising revenue, with advertisers fleeing the platform after Musk’s takeover last year.
