Product Lead At Elon Musk's X, Known For Building LinkedIn Rival, Decides To Part Ways With Platform

Chris Bakke, the product lead at X, formerly Twitter, has announced his exit from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s social media company.

What Happened: On Thursday, Bakke took to X, and revealed this development saying, “My last day was a week ago, so feel free to stop asking me to look at broken things with your account.”

While he did not provide any reason behind this decision, Bakke said that he has no immediate plans for his next career move. “For the first time in my career, I have no plans for what’s next.”

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The former product lead has been a significant contributor to the success of two businesses on the X over the past four years. His first venture, Laskie, a job-matching platform, was the first to be acquired under Musk’s ownership last year.

Laskie then led to his second venture, XHiring, a competitor to Microsoft’s LinkedIn. According to Bakke, XHiring has amassed over one million active jobs from top employers.

An update:

I've decided to leave @X – you know – the company, not the platform.

My last day was a week ago, so feel free to stop asking me to look at broken things with your account.

Over the last 4 years, I've been fortunate to build two incredible businesses on this…

— Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) August 15, 2024

Bakke did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.

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Why It Matters: This departure comes amidst a series of unsettling events at X.

Earlier in June, X CEO Linda Yaccarino reportedly left employees in the dark about delayed promotions and failed revenue targets, leading to speculation about potential layoffs.

This was followed by a significant reshuffling of the leadership team by Yaccarino who was reportedly under pressure from Musk to reduce costs and boost sales.

Meanwhile, X is currently facing a $20 million lawsuit from former Twitter board member Omid Kordestani over unpaid shares.

The platform also won a $500 million severance lawsuit after the claims of laid-off Twitter employees were determined not to fall under ERISA coverage.

These events, coupled with Bakke’s departure, could potentially impact the company’s future direction and performance.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.