When it comes to running her company, it’s hard to shake the notion that X CEO Linda Yaccarino is turning on Elon Musk.
The demanding entrepreneur poached the ad sales expert from NBCUniversal in May with great fanfare. Yet Musk remains in the spotlight when it comes to all major policy decisions, including his controversial Twitter rebrand.
This continued ambiguity in her duties has led to repeated speculation about how long she can continue in her position, especially as she attempts to thaw relations with the Anti-Defamation League, but after Musk threatened to sue the Jewish nonprofit and seek multi-million dollar damages. After a billion dollars and failed. damage.
Speaking at the Code Conference on Wednesday, Yacarino sought to portray their collaboration as a mutual division of labor — one responsible for the commercial side of the business, the other for product.
“Who wouldn’t want Elon Musk sitting next to them?” she asked, before many in the audience raised their hands. There was a burst of laughter in the room.
Okay, this is crazy. It’s crazy. @lindayaX Visibly shocked and upset. @yoyoel appearance. I have never seen an interview like what I witnessed. Maybe don’t fire your communications team. Ha ha. @JBoorstin It’s very, very powerful here. #code23 pic.twitter.com/JPXenq8RIy
— Brooke Hamelin (@brooke) September 28, 2023
Yacarino, however, stood firm, insisting she was the one calling the shots and not just a glorified chief revenue officer masquerading as CEO.
“Do you think Elon brought me on board to be the head of advertising,” she said, “or do you think he brought me on to run the company to provide the best experience for our users?”
However, when asked if Musk would be willing to consult her before backing down from declaring, “We’re going to pay a small monthly fee for the use of System This might risk contradicting him.
“We talk about everything,” she said, and that was it.
Did Musk fail Yacarino?
Musk’s turbulent tenure as Twitter chief, as it was still known at the time, often gave the impression that he was enacting policies on the fly, such as his belief that users dismissively labeling people “cis” could lead to suspensions.
Tesla shareholders have urged him to cede control to someone better suited to running the media company so he can focus on a host of issues facing the company.These include the key launch of his much-anticipated Cybertruck, which will miss his End of Season 3 Target.
Yaccarino was hired to relieve Musk of some of his intense workload. Yet by consistently deferring to Musk, she contributes to the “glass cliff” failure narrative he has set for her.
The Code Conference interview didn’t help dispel speculation that she wasn’t sure what she could say.
“‘Code’ always gets questions from the audience, but I heard that shortly before the interview, Linda Yaccarino insisted that the microphones be taken away from the audience and that no questions were asked,” report business insider Senior reporter Ben Bergman.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
Organizers counter Yacarino was ‘sandbagged’ at conference
Observers noted that the CEO also seemed angry at CNBC reporter Julia Boorstin’s probing questions.
farther heightening tensions The fact is that she came to the fore after the company’s record came under fire from Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety.
“It’s very difficult to book a high-profile guest after an unexpected experience like this.” commented Jason Calacanis, Musk’s colleague Lobbying Yaccarino’s job Asking the tycoon to “put me in the game, coach!”
However, the event’s long-time organizer and former host Kara Swisher refuted the accusations that she “sandbagged” X’s head, claiming Yacarino chose to go on after Rose.
“She is the CEO and should be able to perform well under pressure no matter what. She should have all the numbers and facts.” Posted by Swisher. “She should be able to express her vision easily. If she’s spending big money, she needs to bring the big guns.”
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