“stupid enough”
This advertising expert is supposed to solve Musk’s misery
05/12/2023 1:21 p.m
For a long time it was unclear who should follow Elon Musk at the top of Twitter. Almost half a year after the tech billionaire was voted out of office, the 51-year-old is now slowly preparing to retire. The helm could be a woman helping Musk win back advertisers.
As early as December last year, after a Twitter survey, it was clear that Elon Musk would not remain the head of the company for long. “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone stupid enough to take the job,” the 51-year-old wrote at the time. Previously, 57.5 percent had voted for his withdrawal from the top of the US group.
Almost half a year, however, there is little to suggest that the tech billionaire, who has never been at a loss for a provocative slogan, will quickly find a suitable candidate for the top job. Until now. Musk announced in a tweet that he had found a successor: “She will start in six weeks.” He himself will act as executive director and head of technology at Twitter and will be responsible for product development and software, among other things, the entrepreneur added. However, he did not give a name for the new boss.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the new woman at the helm of the company is likely to be Linda Yaccarino. The talks are already well advanced, the “WSJ” quotes a person familiar with the matter. Yaccarino and Musk have been in contact with each other for weeks. Just last month, she interviewed the controversial tech billionaire on stage at an industry conference in Miami. There she is said to have left a lasting impression on Musk.
At the US media giant NBCUniversal, Yaccarino is currently responsible for sales for international advertising – exactly the area that is causing Musk a headache on Twitter. As the new head of Twitter, she should have one task above all: winning back advertising customers, who actually make up the majority of Twitter’s income. A number of advertisers had put their ads on hold after Musk’s takeover. In just a month, Musk lost half of its top 100 advertisers. The reason: In the context of more and more fake news and hate messages, many companies no longer wanted to advertise.
Why Musk could count on Yaccarino is obvious: With her, the platform would get an executive with close ties to the advertising industry and extensive experience in the media sector. For more than ten years, she has worked at NBCU to improve the measurement of advertising effectiveness. The head of the department for global advertising and partnerships is not only considered to be very well connected in the industry, but also as a tough negotiator. She is also responsible for approximately $13 billion in annual advertising revenue. As head of advertising sales, she was instrumental in launching the advertising-financed streaming service Peacock.
For NBCU, the speculation comes at an inopportune time. Next week is an important date for the group with the annual pitch event for advertisers. An NBCU spokesman said Yaccarino is currently rehearsing for the event.