The Blubber

Linda Yaccarino, the newly appointed leader of the social media company Twitter, has assumed her role earlier than anticipated. Yaccarino, previously responsible for advertising at NBCUniversal, joined shortly after Twitter experienced the departure of its second head of trust and safety. Elon Musk had announced on May 12 that his successor would begin in six weeks, but it seems that Yaccarino's start date has been moved forward. Additionally, Twitter has also announced the recruitment of Joe Benarroch from NBCUniversal, where he held the position of Senior Vice President of Communications, Advertising, and Partnerships. Benarroch has prior experience working at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and at Twitter, he will primarily focus on business operations. Musk has expressed his intention to remain involved with the company after stepping down as CEO.

Last year, the billionaire owner of Twitter stated that he would resign as chief executive once he found someone willing to assume the position. This decision followed a Twitter poll in which Musk asked users to vote on whether he should resign, with 57.5% voting in favor. Yaccarino extended a warm welcome to her former NBCUniversal colleague Benarroch, jokingly referring to Twitter's bird logo in her tweet. Benarroch expressed his enthusiasm for bringing his experience to Twitter and working collaboratively to shape the platform's future.

Yaccarino, often referred to as Twitter's "superwoman," is 60 years old and will oversee the company's business operations, which have faced financial challenges. Since Musk's acquisition of Twitter, drastic measures were taken, including a 75% reduction in the workforce, including teams responsible for addressing abuse, as well as changes to the verification process for authentic accounts. Consequently, numerous advertisers have left the platform. Yaccarino is renowned for successfully guiding NBCUniversal through the disruptions caused by technology firms. In her previous position, she led a transformation of the advertising sales business, facilitated the launch of the ad-supported streaming platform Peacock in 2020, and initiated industry-wide discussions on data gaps as audiences transitioned to online platforms.