Linda Yaccarino to step down as CEO of Elon Musk's social media firm X

X CEO Linda Yaccarino

Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (formerly Twitter), said on July 9 that she is stepping down from the role after a two-year tumultuous run.

This departure comes a few months after Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI acquired X in an all-stock transaction that valued the social media platform at $33 billion in March 2025.

"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. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App," Yaccarino said in a post on X.

In a reply to her post, Musk thanked Yaccarino for her contributions.

Yaccarino, a seasoned advertising executive, joined the company in May 2023 when it was still called Twitter. Her appointment came during a chaotic period of change in the company’s products and business, brought about by Musk after he acquired the firm for $44 billion in October 2022.

Musk said that Yaccarino will primarily focus on Twitter (now X)'s business operations while he will focus on product design and new technology.

Prior to joining X, Yaccarino worked as the chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal for more than two and half years. She joined NBCUniversal in 2011 and led the growth of the company's advertising sales efforts both nationally and globally to a over $10 billion dollar business on an annual basis.

In her role, Yaccarino was tasked with reversing an advertising exodus from the platform, triggered by concerns over brand safety, lax content moderation policies, and, at times, Musk's own posts. But the company's ads business still faces challenges.

According to a May forecast by market research firm eMarketer, X's advertising business will reach $2.26 billion in revenue in 2025, marking the first year of ad revenue growth in four years. However, that figure is still only about half of what the company earned in 2021, which was $4.46 billion.

"I'm incredibly proud of the X team - the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable," she said.

Yaccarino also highlighted various initiatives the company has undertaken "We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users—especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence" she said.

"This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform," she added.

X also introduced a new connected television app last year and signed a series of content deals with celebrities and creators to release more video content on the platform, as part of its push to become a video-first platform.

The social media firm also extended partnerships with professional sports leagues such as the NFL (National Football League) and NBA (National Basketball Association).

"X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal. We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world" Yaccarino said.