Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, announced Wednesday that she will be stepping down as CEO of the platform after two years.
Yaccarino, 61, took the top position at the company at a contentious time for the platform, formerly known as Twitter, when Elon Musk acquired it on the promise to transform it into a “public square” free from censorship.
“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 wrote on X.
The soon-to-be former CEO did not cite a specific reason she was stepping down from the company, but her resignation arrived just one day after X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, began responding with anti-Semitic statements.
”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 wrote.
A source familiar with Yaccarino’s departure told NBC News that her exit had been in the works for more than a week.
Yaccarino said she would be moving to Musk’s other company, xAI. In March, Musk said he was combining X with xAI by selling the social media platform’s $33 billion valuation to xAI, his artificial intelligence company. Both companies are privately owned.
Musk’s artificial intelligence company also created Grok. Though the chatbot is trained on data posted by X users.
Yaccarino did not immediately provide any details about what her new role would entail.
Before joining X in 2023, Yaccarino served as chairwoman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. It was in that role that she became closer to Musk, as she was one of the few who pledged not to remove advertisements from Twitter after Musk acquired the platform.
But other companies were less willing to wait to see how content moderation was handled after Musk’s acquisition if the platform once known as Twitter.
On top of the immediate changes, Yaccarino was forced to navigate problems after Musk promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory, causing a wave of more advertisers to pull their business. She was also leading the platform as Musk turned his attention to the public sphere and became President Donald Trump’s first buddy. Musk led the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency’s thought his efforts to trim the federal budget and workforce were met with blowback. That included his boycotts against his businesses, where people threatened to leave the social media platform or not buy Teslas.
Over the last two years, Yaccarino has managed to bring some revenue back. While the company has largely seen a decline in revenue since Musk’s takeover, it is expected to report its first growth this year. X is forecast to generate $1.31 billion in ad revenue this year, according to Bloomberg.
Yaccarino has also overseen the “everything app” expansion, which includes a payment system partnered with Visa, known as X Money, longer-form content, a creator monetization program, and more.
Musk provided a brief response to Yaccarino’s announcement, writing, “Thank you for your contributions.”
An interim CEO has not been named.
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