Linda Yaccarino reportedly has worked his first day as Twitter CEO.
Twitter owner Elon Musk had previously suggested she would start closer to July, so Yaccarino’s early start suggests a sense of urgency for the position.
Given the content of a New York Times op-ed Monday claiming that ad revenue isn’t about to return to the levels it was before Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that Yaccarino, who previously worked as an advertising executive at NBCUniversal, is moving on now.
Twitter’s US ad revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to early May came in at $88 million, down a significant 59% from a year earlier, according to an internal document obtained by the Times. The document also revealed that the social media company has regularly fallen short of its weekly US sales forecasts by as much as 30%.
The suggestion is that advertisers may be unhappy with experienced increase in offensive content on the platform following Musk’s decision — as part of his stance on free speech — to reinstate many accounts that had been suspended prior to his arrival.
Musk will be keen for Yaccarino to use his experience at NBCUniversal to turn things around and increase Twitter’s ad revenue. Joe Benarroch, who just arrived from NBCUniversal, where he worked under Yaccarino as executive vice president of communications, global advertising and partnerships, is helping her.
Yaccarino will also be looking to replace two key executives who stepped down in recent days. Ella Irwin stepped down as Twitter’s head of trust and safety last week, while AJ Brown, head of brand safety and ad quality, also stepped down.
Their reasons for leaving are not entirely clear, but the departures come at a turbulent time for Twitter, where Musk has laid off more than half of the workforce since his arrival in a move he said was necessary to prevent the company from going bankruptcy.
All eyes are now on Yaccarino’s efforts to take Twitter in a new direction and the extent to which Musk is relinquishing control of the company to the new Twitter boss.
Editor’s recommendations