Linda Yaccarino exits X CEO role after two-year tenure with the company

Linda Yaccarino announced on Wednesday she is stepping down as CEO of Elon Musk’s social media platform after two years at the helm. 

“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 said in a post on X. “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 did not disclose the reason for her departure or her next steps in the post. 

Linda Yaccarino stepped down as X CEO after serving in the position for two years. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media / Getty Images)

She praised the company for what she described as a “historic business turnaround” under her two-year leadership, highlighting the company’s efforts to prioritize child safety on the platform and restore advertiser confidence. She also teased in the post that the “best is yet to come.” 

Since the takeover of Twitter by the Elon Musk-led ownership group in late 2022 and its subsequent rebranding as X, the platform has faced significant challenges in retaining advertisers, including reassuring them that it has sufficient content moderation policies in place.

Yaccarino did not disclose the reason for her departure or her next steps in the post on X. (Richard Bord/Getty Images for Cannes Lions / Getty Images)

Musk had a roughly seven-month tenure in the position after he closed his $44 billion acquisition of the company in October 2022. 

The day after Musk made public in mid-May 2023 that he had chosen Yaccarino as his Twitter CEO successor, she said in a tweet she was “excited to help bring” his vision “to create a brighter future” to the social media platform and “transform” the company with him.