Elon Musk says he has found a new Twitter CEO

May 11 (Reuters) – Elon Musk said Thursday he had found a new CEO for Twitter, but did not name the person, while The Wall Street Journal reported that Linda Iaccarino, CEO of Comcast Inc. (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal, Talking about a job.

“Excited to announce I’ve been named the new CEO of X / Twitter. Starting in about 6 weeks!” Musk said in a tweet.

Musk said he will transition to the position of chief technology officer for the social media platform within the next few weeks.

Musk, who took over as CEO of Twitter when he completed his $44 billion purchase of the company in October, said in December that he would step down as CEO once he found “someone foolish enough to take over.” He said he would then run Twitter’s software and server teams.

The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the situation as saying that Iaccarino is in talks to get the top job.

Reuters reported after Musk’s tweet that Yaccarino could be his pick to lead Twitter, according to a Silicon Valley executive and former Hollywood executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s chief ad sales officer, interviewed Musk at an ad conference in Miami last month.

At the conference, Yaccarino encouraged the crowd to welcome Musk with applause and praised his work ethic.

“Many of you in this room know me, and you know I pride myself on my work ethic,” she said, adding, “Friend, you’ve met my match.”

Yaccarino joined NBCU in 2011, after 15 years at Turner Entertainment and has been credited with dragging the network’s advertising sales operation into the digital future.

As broadcast TV audiences transition to broadcast, I took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall last year to tell advertisers that their brand messaging wasn’t an afterthought.

Iaccarino did not return calls seeking comment on Thursday.

When asked for comment, an NBCUniversal spokesperson said, “Linda does back-to-back rehearsals for Upfront,” referring to the presentation NBCUniversal will be hosting for advertisers in New York on Monday.

Yaccarino’s exit would be another big blow to the company after Comcast said last month that NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell would leave after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a woman at the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation.

“Anchor loosened”

Musk has not previously mentioned any potential nominees.

Speculation swirled Thursday among tech and media insiders and on Blind, an anonymous messaging app for tech employees.

Among the names discussed are former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former YouTube executive Susan Wojcicki, and a senior executive at Musk’s startup Neuralink, Shivon Zilis.

Musk, who has come under fire from investors in electric car maker Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) for his distraction on Twitter, said he will move into the position of CEO of Twitter, along with a chief technology role, and product oversight. and software and system operations.

Musk’s post about a new CEO on Twitter came about 15 minutes before Wall Street closed on Thursday, and Tesla shares closed up 2%. Shares rose another 1.6% in after-hours trading.

“The boat anchor called Twitter has been loosened from Musk’s ankle. Now he can go back to spending more time creating value at Tesla,” said Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth MKM.

Musk has long said he intends to find a new leader for Twitter.

In a Twitter poll Musk launched in December, 57.5% of users voted for him to step down as CEO of the social media platform.

The first two weeks of the billionaire’s life as the owner of Twitter in October were marked by rapid change. He quickly fired former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and other senior leaders, then laid off half of his staff in November.

Musk, the self-proclaimed “absolute freedom of speech,” said he took over Twitter to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber of hate and division.

He also said he would “defeat” spam bots on the platform, a key area in his struggle with Twitter’s board of directors over the back-and-forth over the company’s takeover.

Last month, he said, Twitter “almost broke even”.

Additional reporting by Gopi Babu in Bengaluru. Edited by Shounak Dasgupta

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