NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino tipped to become Twitter CEO

NBCUniversal says its advertising chief, Linda Yaccarino, will leave the company following reports that she is in talks to become the new CEO of Twitter.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that he had found a new CEO for the social media site, but did not name the person. Yaccarino, who modernised the Comcast Corp entertainment and media division's advertising business, was reportedly in talks for the job, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed on Friday.

Her exit is another big blow to the company after NBC parent Comcast said in April that NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was leaving after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation.

Advertising president Mark Marshall will step in as interim chair of NBCUniversal's advertising and partnerships group.

Yaccarino joined NBCU in 2011, after 15 years at Turner Entertainment, and has been credited with taking the network's ad sales operation into the digital future.

As broadcast television audiences migrated to streaming, she took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall last year to tell advertisers that their brand messages were not an afterthought. She said NBCUniversal incorporated ads in its Peacock streaming service from the outset.

Yaccarino would bring deep relationships with major brands and advertisers to Twitter, which would benefit the messaging platform.

Since Musk acquired Twitter, advertisers have fled the platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of staff. Earlier in 2023, Musk acknowledged that Twitter suffered a huge decline in ad revenue.

Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, completed his purchase of Twitter in October for $44bn. He said in December that he would step aside as CEO once he found “someone foolish enough to take the job”.

On Thursday, Musk said he would transition to the role of chief technology officer of the social media platform within the next few weeks.

Shares of Tesla rose 2.3% on Friday, as analysts commented that a CEO hire would allow Musk to concentrate on the EV business. Comcast shares were little changed in morning trading.

Reuters