Who Is Linda Yaccarino? Twitter's New CEO Has Colorful Past

Linda Yaccarino is the new CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk announced Friday after a whirlwind of speculation.

Yaccarino will focus mainly on business operations while Musk will focus on product design and new technology, he said in a tweet.

“Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app,” Musk said.

Known for her career in advertising, Yaccarino’s connection with the World Economic Forum (WEF) is raising eyebrows and igniting a firestorm of reactions from Twitter users.

Yaccarino’s Media Background: Yaccarino, a Penn State telecommunications graduate, embarked on her career as an account executive at Young & Rubicam. Her path led her through executive roles at Turner Broadcasting System, which is now owned by Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD); Fox Broadcasting Company (NASDAQ:FOX) (NASDAQ:FOXA); and ABC, which is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) — where she also held a role. She then landed a position as chairman of global advertising and partnerships at Comcast Corporation’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) NBCUniversal, where she just resigned.

In parallel, her engagement with the WEF, where she serves as the executive chair, has been met with apprehension by the Twitter community. The WEF, often criticized for its exclusivity and perceived elitism, seems to strike a discordant note with Twitter users who view the platform as a democratic space for free speech.

The Reaction On Twitter: Elon Musk’s hint at Yaccarino’s appointment earlier Friday sparked a cascade of concern and disappointment from Twitter users. Comments ranged from disillusionment — “Sorry Elon…Could never support WEF, forced masking, forced vax” — to outright disbelief: “Bro of all the people on earth to choose, why the executive chair of the WEF?!”

Others expressed fears of returning to perceived censorship practices.

“This is horrible… it almost seems like we've been punked… so many people believed in this forum, and believed in you, only to find out that what this looks like is that everything that's been changed here is going to revert… shadow, banning conservatives, suspending accounts for no reason, deboosting as a regular occurrence… this is making a lot of people, sad and angry…” one user wrote.

Another contentious issue is Yaccarino’s advocacy for COVID-19 precautions, which she has demonstrated through hashtags like #MaskUpOrPackUp and #GetVaccinated. Some users view these campaigns as “indoctrination” rather than education.

The Last Word: Beyond her professional accolades, Yaccarino is a staunch advocate for women’s empowerment and diversity in the workplace. She is a board member for the Vital Voices Global Partnership and a founding member of the Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Film Mentorship program.

Yaccarino was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2021, and Fortune magazine named her one of the “Most Powerful Women in Business” in 2019.

Her ascent to Twitter’s helm could bring significant expertise, but it’s clear she will face a formidable challenge in winning over a skeptical user base.

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