Linda Yaccarino Clocks In As Twitter Boss

Former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino spent her first day as chief executive of Twitter on Monday, replacing owner Elon Musk, she said in a tweet late in the day.

“It happened — first day in the books!” she wrote, without providing further details.

The former advertising chief at NBCUniversal was named as Twitter chief on 12 May, with Musk saying she would take up the role in six weeks’ time – a date that was evidently brought forward.

She became active in the role the same day that another senior NBCUniversal executive, Joe Benarroch, joined Twitter.

Revenue crisis

Benarroch, who reported to Yaccarino as vice president of communications, advertising and partnerships at the media giant, is to focus on business operations at Twitter.

Yaccarino welcomed Benarroch to the firm, writing, “Welcome to the flock @benarroch_joe! From one bird to the next.”

Both NBCUniversal and Twitter are known for their bird logos – that of NBCUniversal having given its name to the company’s Peacock streaming service.

The two executives join Twitter at a time when the company is struggling to bring in revenue.

Advertisers have left the firm in droves following its takeover by Musk, who has instituted a series of chaotic and unpredictable changes.

Executive turnover

Musk laid off more than 75 percent of Twitter’s staff, including most of those responsible for content moderation, in a move that has raised the ire of regulators in the European Union.

It emerged last week that Twitter’s second head of trust and safety under Musk, Ella Irwin, had resigned.

While it was unclear why Irwin had left Twitter, the move came days after Musk publicly criticised a content moderation decision by the company.