Elon Musk's talk with new rumoured Twitter CEO covers employees, talent and life beyond Earth. Watch

Linda Yaccarino, touted to be next Twitter CEO, had a chat with Elon Musk last month. (Image: screengrab from video: elon_alerts/YouTube)

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has hinted that a new chief executive officer (CEO) will be leading Twitter soon. The Wall Street Journal reported that Linda Yaccarino, an NBCUniversal executive, is touted to become the next CEO of Twitter. During a conversation last month in Miami with Yaccarino, Musk discussed the future of marketing on Twitter, hiring and retention of employees, and the importance of becoming a multi-planetary species.

When asked by Yaccarino about why it is important to become a multi-planetary species, Elon explained that it is critical to ensure the continuation of consciousness in case of calamities that could potentially wipe out civilization as we know it.

“There's a bunch of reasons why it's important to become a multi-planetary species. One is, to ensure the continuation of consciousness as we know it, in case some calamity befalls Earth. And the probability of a calamity occurring that could potentially wipe out civilization as we know it, is actually quite high. I mean, this has occurred many times in the past. And we have records of it happening, but we don't know exactly when it could happen again,” Musk, 51, said.

Musk also emphasized that it is essential to extend life beyond Earth because it may never be possible again if some calamity befalls Earth. This is the first time in the four-billion-year history of Earth that it is possible to extend life beyond it, Musk said. The billionaire believes that we should take advantage of this window of opportunity while it is open. Moreover, he added that becoming a spacefaring civilization and a multi-planetary species is the next step in human evolution.

“And then, ultimately, we want to become a spacefaring civilization, and a multi-planetary species, because it's the right thing to do. It's the next step in human evolution,” he added.

When asked about talent acquisition and retention, Musk highlighted that talent is distributed randomly throughout the population and not concentrated in any one place or demographic or gender.

“It's important to have a strategy that is capable of attracting and retaining talent from a very broad pool of people. And so, that's what we try to do at Tesla, and SpaceX, and other companies, is to have a very broad recruitment strategy, and to be as inclusive as possible, and to create an environment where people can do their best work,” he told Yaccarino.

He continued: “And it's not just about having a good recruiting strategy, it's also about creating an environment where people can do their best work. And that means having a culture of innovation, where people are encouraged to think outside the box, and to come up with new ideas, and to take risks. And it also means having a culture of excellence, where people are really focused on doing great work, and delivering the best possible results. And I think, if you have those two things, you can create an environment that's very attractive to great talent.”

Musk also added that while benefits, compensation and work life balance are key, “it's really about creating a culture that people want to be a part of.”

Yaccarino praised Musk and said: “And I think that's one of the things that's so interesting about the work that you do, is that you're doing things that are really changing the world, and that are really making a difference. And I think that's something that people really aspire to.”

Musk responded: “I think, if you can provide people with that sense of purpose, and that sense of meaning, it's incredibly powerful, and it can really help you attract and retain great talent.”

Yaccarino wrapped the interview up by saying that Musk had done “amazing things” and inspired a lot of people.

Read: Who is Linda Yaccarino, the woman rumoured to become new Twitter CEO?

Linda Yaccarino is an NBCUniversal veteran, having been with the organisation since 2011.

Musk announced on Twitter that the new CEO will start in six weeks. While he mentioned it was a “she”, he didn’t take any names.

Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!

My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023