Twitter finally has a new chief executive officer. Owner Elon Musk, whose handling of the social media platform has created ripples, named Linda Yaccarino, a 60-year-old NBCUniversal (NBCU) veteran, as the Twitter CEO.
Yaccarino is a seasoned advertising executive who joins at a critical time as the micro-blogging platform navigates a chaotic period of change in its product and business brought in by Musk.
Announcing the appointment on May 12, Musk said Yaccarino would focus on business operations, while he will be responsible for product design and new technology.
Twitter, which makes bulk of its revenues from ad sales like other social media platforms, has struggled to grow business amid a slowdown in the digital ads market coupled with an advertiser exodus over concerns of brand safety and lax content moderation since Musk took over in October 2022.
The company's efforts to diversify its revenue sources beyond advertising with initiatives such as its subscription service Twitter Blue and creator subscriptions are also yet to take off.
In November 2022, Musk claimed that Twitter witnessed a massive drop in revenue due to advertisers pausing spending on the social media platform. But in April 2023, he claimed that most advertisers had returned or intimated that they would return, without sharing details. He also said Twitter was “roughly break-even” and would likely be cash flow positive this quarter.
Yaccarino, nicknamed as “velvet hammer” due to her tough negotiation tactics, will have her task cut out as she looks to restore trust with marketers to bring them back to Twitter as well as lure new advertisers amid signs of a potential rebound in the digital ad market.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the new Twitter CEO:
1 Rare female tech CEO: Yaccarino will be a rare female chief executive at the top of a major technology firm, joining the ranks of Oracle's Safra Catz and AMD's Lisa Su. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stepped down in February 2023.
Education: Yaccarino grew up with her Italian parents in Long Island, New York and graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1985.
2 Turner Entertainment stint: Yaccarino spent nearly two decades at Turner (formerly Turner Broadcasting System), becoming the executive vice president and chief operating officer for advertising sales, marketing and acquisitions.
3 Joining NBCUniversal: She joined NBCUniversal in 2011 as president, cable entertainment and digital advertising sales. She was elevated as the company's chairman of advertising and client partnerships in late 2012 and then chairman of global advertising and partnerships in October 2020.
In this role, she oversaw the company's national advertising sales, ad sales marketing, global partnerships, local advertising sales and strategic initiatives teams as well as spearheaded a new cross-functional data strategy effort across the company.
Read: New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino is Elon Musk's bet to win back sales
4 Over $100 billion in ad sales: During her tenure, Yaccarino and her 2,000-member global team generated more than $100 billion in ad sales, expanded the company's reach globally and made massive investments in data and technology capabilities, NBCU said.
She was involved in forging key advertising partnerships with companies such as Snapchat, YouTube, Apple News and Buzzfeed. Twitter was also a key partner and both companies recently announced an expanded partnership around the upcoming Olympic Games. They also oversaw prominent live events such as the Super Bowl, one of the world's most-watched sporting events.
Yaccarino was also involved in the television industry's push towards adopting new measurement metrics and advocating for less reliance on Nielsen, openly criticising the accuracy of its data. She also pushed for the industry to improve the viewing experience and embrace digital viewing.
5 Peacock launch: Yaccarino worked on diversifying NBCU's revenue streams. She and her team oversaw the entire monetisation strategy for the company's ad-supported streaming service Peacock. Yaccarino had earlier said that Peacock’s "pristine" ad environment was one of its major selling points.
6 First ad chief to launch a unified advertising trading system: She is the first ad chief to develop a unified advertising technology, data, and measurement offering called One Platform, which made it easier for advertisers to buy ads across both linear television and digital advertising mediums, NBCU said.
It claims that One Platform reaches 227 million adults in the United States and 1 billion adults globally a month across all screens.
7 Government positions: In 2018, former US president Donald Trump named Yaccarino to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, a government organisation that aims to promote healthy eating and physical activity for all US citizens for a two-year stint.
Also Read: Doge in, Larry Bird out: How Elon Musk is reshaping Twitter
8 Industry work: Yaccarino was named as the chair of the non-profit Ad Council's board of directors in January 2021, a role she served until June 30, 2022. In this role, she also worked with the Biden administration to create a coronavirus vaccine campaign in 2021 that featured Pope Francis.
She also chairs World Economic Forum's task force on the future of work and sits on its Media, Entertainment and Culture Industry Governors Steering Committee.
9 Board roles: Yaccarino served as an independent director on the board of directors of Ascena retail group, a US retailer of women's clothing, from January 2016- January 2020.
10 Interviewing Musk: Yaccarino interviewed Musk in an advertising conference in Miami in front of hundreds of advertisers in April where they discussed the future of marketing on Twitter, hiring and retention of employees, and the importance of becoming a multi-planetary species.
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