Linda Yaccarino has reportedly worked her first day as Twitter CEO.
Twitter owner Elon Musk had earlier suggested she’d begin closer to July, so Yaccarino’s early start suggests a sense of urgency about the place.
Considering the contents of a New York Times on Monday claiming that ad revenue is failing to return to the level it was before Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that Yaccarino, who previously worked as ad chief at NBCUniversal, is getting to work now.
Twitter’s U.S. ad revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the beginning of May came in at $88 million, down a significant 59% from a year earlier, according to an internal document obtained by the Times. The document also revealed that the social media company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections by as much as 30%.
The suggestion is that advertisers may be unhappy with the perceived increase in offensive content on the platform following Musk’s decision — as part of his stand on free speech — to reinstate many accounts that had been suspended prior to his arrival.
Musk will be keen for Yaccarino to use her experience at NBCUniversal to turn things around and boost Twitter’s ad revenue. Assisting her will be Joe Benarroch, who has just arrived from NBCUniversal where he worked under Yaccarino as executive vice president of communications, global advertising, and partnerships.
Yaccarino will also be looking to replace two key executives that resigned in recent days. Ella Irwin resigned as Twitter’s head of trust and safety last week, while A.J. Brown, head of brand safety and ad quality, also quit.
Their reasons for leaving aren’t entirely clear, but the departures come at a turbulent time for Twitter, with Musk laying off more than half the workforce since his arrival in a move that he said was necessary to prevent the company from going bankrupt.
All eyes are now on Yaccarino’s efforts to take Twitter in a new direction, and to what extent Musk relinquishes control of the company to the new Twitter CEO.
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