Linda Yaccarino Exits X, But It’s Not Clear Why

Elon Musk’s X Left Leaderless After Linda Yaccarino Departs

It’s been a rough five-week stretch for Elon Musk. U.S. President Donald Trump “dumped” him after their bromance went sour last month, Tesla’s shares have been languishing in the doldrums, his AI company xAI had to deal with a rogue chatbot on Tuesday, and Linda Yaccarino, CEO of his social media company X, quietly exited on Wednesday. It’s not clear if she resigned or was forced to leave. Either way, the reason for her departure remains shrouded in mystery.

The 61-year-old New Yorker was picked to head X in May 2023 after Musk purchased Twitter for a cool $44 billion in October 2022. Advertisers had fled the platform in droves as sentiment on the once left leaning site quickly veered to the right after Musk’s acquisition. Yaccarino, who boasts an illustrious career leading global advertising and partnerships at NBC Universal, was strategically selected to woo back X’s disgruntled advertisers.

It took some time, but many companies did in fact return to advertise on the revamped platform, but not at the same levels as the pre-Musk days. According to Gizmodo, X’s projected ad revenue for 2025 is roughly $2.26 billion, up 16.5% from last year, but still significantly lower than the $4.46 billion figure for 2021 before Musk’s purchase. Tuesday’s Grok glitch, where the newly overhauled chatbot enthusiastically praised Hitler, certainly didn’t help the platform’s credibility in the eyes of corporate advertisers. Some speculate Grok’s antisemitic ramblings were the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and triggered Yaccarino’s resignation.

“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of X,” Yaccarino wrote in a farewell post on the platform. “When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company.”

Yaccarino went on to thank her former staff, describing their work as a “historic business turnaround,” that was “nothing short of remarkable.” The replies to Yaccarino’s post were a mix of grace, anger, tin foil hat conspiracy, and of course, bigotry. Interestingly, one user appeared furious over Yaccarino’s hint at the upcoming launch of X Money, the platform’s native payment system set to debut sometime this year. The user went on to petition for a bitcoin integration. Finally, Musk himself chimed in, albeit in a very unemotional way.

He simply wrote, “Thank you for your contributions.”