Twitter CEO's "level of ego and hubris" and why she's determined to clean up Elon Musk's messes
Linda Yaccarino is once again making it clear that she has no plans to abandon X — or its boss Elon Musk — anytime soon. In recent months, the X CEO has seemingly been straying away from her original job duties and instead, doing damage control for Musk after several brands removed their advertising from the social platform in the wake of his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
Musk has since apologized for the post he made on X (formerly Twitter) while speaking at a conference Wednesday night. But, he also had a few choice words for advertisers that have since left the platform.
“If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f**k yourself. Go. F**k. Yourself. Is that clear?,” Musk said while in conversation with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York. Musk continued, saying he won’t be the one to blame if X goes bankrupt: “The whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company, and we will document it in great detail.”
Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, IBM, Lions Gate Entertainment and Comcast suspended their ads on X in early November after Musk agreed with a social media user who falsely claimed Jewish people were pushing hatred against white people. Musk, in his post, said the user who referenced the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory was speaking “the actual truth.” Musk’s comments spurred backlash from The White House, which said it condemns “this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms.”
Shortly after Musk’s Wednesday interview, Yaccarino took to X to clean up his mess. She described the interview as “wide ranging” and “candid” and called Musk’s comments an “explicit point of view about our position.”
“X is enabling an information independence that's uncomfortable for some people. We’re a platform that allows people to make their own decisions,” Yaccarino wrote. “And here’s my perspective when it comes to advertising: X is standing at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street — and the X community is powerful and is here to welcome you. To our partners who believe in our meaningful work — Thank You.”
Many social media users took offense with Yaccarino’s description of the interview and accused her of “gaslighting.”
“Seriously? Your boss told advertisers to ‘go f**k yourselves’ and blamed them for the devastating drop in ad rev,” wrote actor and producer Andy Ostroy. “As someone with an extensive advertising background, I can’t imagine you did anything but cringe when you saw that. Run for the hills . . .”
Another user wrote, “If you’ve ever wanted to see the most pathetic spin in PR history, here’s @lindayaX trying to do a pirouette with a petulant, anti-semitic narcissist on her foot.”
Yaccarino officially joined X in May and has been tasked with making deals with advertisers in an attempt to resuscitate the company following Musk’s major takeover. She was previously the global advertising chief of NBCUniversal.
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Today, Yaccarino “has become one of the best-known CEOs in America, if not for the most desirable reasons,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote in a new in-depth report that looks into Yaccarino’s job performance. Many people have understandably grown skeptical of Yaccarino’s capability to handle Musk and save a company that’s on the brink of collapse.
Former associates at NBCU described Yaccarino as “an extremely hardworking and capable ad-sales executive,” despite her also being “a difficult and volatile boss or colleague.” According to one former insider, Yaccarino “was good at ad sales but wrecked the culture. She was not collegial. She was a scorched-earth manager.” Other sources echoed those sentiments, saying there were many hirings, firings and reorganizations under Yaccarino’s leadership.
“Stability is so important for success, but her reign was marked by instability,” said another source. “You could count on a reorganization once or twice a year.”
As for her current role at X, several of Yaccarino’s former associates claimed she doesn’t have the skill set to be CEO: “I really do believe that she felt she could manage him,” said one ex-colleague regarding Yaccarino’s underestimation of Musk's online antics.
“She let her ego get the best of her. She thought she could control him,” another NBCU veteran added. “It was a level of ego and hubris that you rarely see.”
