Topline
Linda Yaccarino announced Wednesday she will resign as chief executive of Elon Musk’s X following a two-year tenure, a day after Musk’s AI chatbot made a series of antisemitic comments on the social media platform and appeared to praise Adolf Hitler.
Yaccarino, 61, joined the social media platform in 2023 months after Musk’s takeover.
Key Facts
Yaccarino, 61, announced her resignation on X but did not provide a reason for her departure, noting she was “immensely grateful” to Musk for “entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around and transforming X into the Everything App.”
Yaccarino’s exit from X was in the works for over a week, an unnamed source familiar with the situation told NBC News.
Her departure follows a series of posts Tuesday by Grok, the AI chatbot by Musk’s xAI, which responded to users as “MechaHitler,” praised Hitler and made comments condemned by the Anti-Defamation League as “irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic,” though Yaccarino did not address Grok’s comments.
Yaccarino applauded X’s “critical early work” to “prioritize the safety of our users” and to “restore advertiser confidence,” as X’s ad revenue is expected to grow in 2025 for the first time in four years, despite likely being just over half ($2.64 billion) of what the company earned in 2021 ($4.46 billion) before Musk bought it.
Earlier this year, Yaccarino claimed 96% of X’s “top advertisers” returned to the platform, after several companies pulled advertising in the months after Musk’s takeover.
Musk responded to Yaccarino’s announcement, writing, “Thank you for your contributions.”
What To Watch For
Who succeeds Yaccarino as X’s chief executive. It’s not immediately clear whether the company has a plan in place to name her replacement, or whether other executives are under consideration.
Key Background
Yaccarino was hired in May 2023 after more than a decade of leading advertising at NBCUniversal. She reportedly grew closer with Musk earlier that year as she pledged to continue advertising on the platform, then known as Twitter, while other companies pulled away from the site. A number of advertisers pulled spending on X after thousands of the platform’s employees were laid off and as Musk made sweeping content changes, though more departed after Musk promoted an antisemitic post. Musk later said advertisers that fled X should not return, claiming they were “blackmailing him” and should “go f— themselves.” Yaccarino continued supporting Musk during her tenure and faced calls to resign, saying at the time she believed “deeply in our vision, our team and our community.”
Tangent
Musk announced in March his AI startup xAI acquired X for $33 billion in an all-stock transaction. Musk said the deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, or $45 billion if the platform’s $12 billion in debt is included. Musk purchased X for $44 billion in 2022.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/07/09/musk-loses-x-ceo-linda-yaccarino-resigns/