Elon Musk says he has found new Twitter chief

Elon Musk mentioned he had employed a brand new Twitter chief government who would start main the social media platform in six weeks.

The billionaire has been Twitter chief government since his $44bn acquisition of the corporate in October however signalled his place can be momentary. Musk wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “Excited to announce that I’ve employed a brand new CEO for X/Twitter. She shall be beginning in ~6 weeks!”

He added he would transfer to being government chair and chief expertise officer, “overseeing product, software program and sysops [systems operations]”. He didn’t identify the particular person he supposed to nominate as chief government.

One particular person accustomed to the matter informed the Monetary Occasions that Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of promoting, and Musk had been in talks, after the Wall Road Journal reported she was in discussions for the job. Yaccarino didn’t reply to an e mail in search of remark.

Musk and Yaccarino just lately appeared collectively at a convention in Miami the place they gave a keynote speech titled “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships”. They appeared to have a great rapport onstage, with Yaccarino displaying a aptitude for showmanship, in accordance with individuals who noticed the presentation.

The announcement comes as shareholders of Tesla, the electric-car maker that Musk additionally runs, have more and more put strain on him to return his focus to that firm, whose shares have fallen 30 per cent over the previous 12 months. Tesla’s inventory jumped about 2 per cent on information of the Twitter chief.

Twitter buyers and bankers have additionally been eager for Musk to pick out new administration as quickly as attainable, in accordance with folks accustomed to the matter.

Musk in December mentioned he would resign as Twitter’s chief government as quickly as he discovered somebody “silly sufficient to take the job”, after polling customers over whether or not he ought to stop the function. The ballot drew 17.5mn votes, with 57.5 per cent calling for him to step apart.

His six months on the helm of Twitter have been marked by a big shake-up by which he diminished its headcount by about 90 per cent and relaxed content material moderation. The strikes alienated some high-profile customers and advertisers, hitting the social media platform’s income.

Nevertheless, Musk in March mentioned Twitter’s funds had been bettering following his cost-cutting efforts, to the purpose that the corporate may return to posting constructive money move subsequent quarter. He has additionally introduced a number of new options in latest weeks, together with encrypted messaging.

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