NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino is reportedly in discussions to become Twitter's CEO after Elon Musk announced in a tweet on Thursday that he had hired a new CEO for the social media platform, but did not specify who it was.
What Happened: Yaccarino, who has been with NBCUniversal — a unit of Comcast Corporation CMCSA — for over a decade, is currently the chairman of global advertising and partnerships at the company, reported The Wall Street Journal.
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As head of NBCU's advertising sales, she played a key role in the launch of the firm’s ad-supported Peacock streaming service.
Earlier, on Thursday, in his tweet, Musk announced that he had chosen a new CEO but did not disclose their identity. The Twitter owner just mentioned that the person hired for the role would "be starting in ~6 weeks!"
He added that this would allow him to transition to the role of Twitter CTO, where he will oversee the company’s product, software and sysops divisions.
Why It Matters: Musk bought Twitter in October 2021. Just ahead of the acquisition, he had even changed his bio on Twitter to read "Chief Twit."
Since then, the platform has made headlines for a variety of reasons, including firing key executives like CEO Parag Agrawal and modifying the verification process, among others.
Musk first floated the idea of appointing someone to handle Twitter's day-to-day operations in December. Most respondents to a poll he conducted on Twitter agreed that he should resign as CEO.
The billionaire, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX, had previously stated in February that he planned to name a new CEO before the end of the year. Even back then, he had made light of the fact that he would leave as soon as he found "someone foolish enough to take the job."
Around the same time in February, Steve Davis, the CEO of The Boring Company, also reportedly emerged as a top contender to succeed Musk.
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