Twitter CEO Elon Musk has announced Linda Yaccarino, a former head of advertising for NBCUniversal, will take over for him overseeing the social media platform after six months of Musk in charge.
Musk first indicated he hired someone to replace him in a tweet on Thursday, months after a majority in a Twitter poll he posted voted for him to step down as CEO. He said the new CEO would start in about six weeks, and he would transition to a role as executive chair and chief technology officer of the company.
Musk announced Yaccarino would become the new CEO on Friday. He said she will focus mostly on business operations, while he concentrates on product design and new technology.
Yaccarino worked for NBCUniversal Media for more than 10 years, most recently serving as the chair of the company’s global advertising and partnerships for more than 2 1/2 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The company announced in a release on Friday that Yaccarino was leaving NBCUniversal, effective immediately.
“It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team. We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry — and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and grateful to my colleagues and mentors, especially Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh and the entire NBCU leadership team,” she said in the release.
Earlier in her career, Yaccarino held management positions for several media sales outlets. She then served in multiple roles at Turner Broadcasting System for nearly 20 years, including executive vice president and chief operating officer, according to her LinkedIn.
Yaccarino began working for NBCUniversal in 2011 as Comcast was completing a merger with NBC, starting as president of cable entertainment and digital ad sales. She oversaw the integration of the companies’ ad sales platforms.
Yaccarino then served as the chairwoman of advertising and client partnerships for eight years, in which she was in charge of market strategy and advertising revenue for the company’s entire portfolio of broadcast, cable and digital assets.
During her career, she has pushed for the advertising industry to implement changes, like relying less heavily on the Nielsen audience measurement ratings. She also introduced One Platform, a digital platform designed to make ad buying practices across different media easier to compete with social media and traditional media companies.
Yaccarino graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in telecommunications in 1985. She lives in Sea Cliff, N.Y., with her husband and two children.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.