As Friday began, one of the biggest stories circulating across the media industry was that Twitter owner Elon Musk had hired a new Chief Executive Officer.
While an official announcement was still forthcoming as of 10:30am Eastern, multiple reports suggested that his choice was the Chairman of NBCUniversal’s Advertising and Partnerships group.
It is now confirmed is that Linda Yaccarino is leaving that position, effective immediately, for the CEO role at the social media platform. “I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!” Musk shared on the platform.
I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.
Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
This followed communication from NBCUniversal distributed at 10:15am Eastern on Friday that Yaccarino had departed, signaling the likelihood that an official statement from Twitter was imminent.
At NBCU, President of Advertising Sales and Client Partnerships Mark Marshall will take Yaccarino’s former duties on an interim basis, and at a key moment as Upfront Week commences Monday in New York.
Marshall will report to Mark Lazarus, Chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast Corporation, commented on Yaccarino’s departure, noting that the company is grateful for her leadership of NBCUniversal’s Advertising Sales business, and for the innovative team and platform she has built. “Linda has made countless contributions to the company during her twelve year tenure, and we wish her the best,” he said.
Yaccarino commented, “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.”
Marshall was named President of Advertising Sales and Partnerships at NBCUniversal in 2018. In this role, Marshall has strategic oversight of all advertising sales initiatives for NBCUniversal’s NBC Broadcast Entertainment, NBC Sports, advanced advertising sales and client partnerships.
Previously, Marshall served as NBCU’s Executive Vice President of Entertainment Advertising Sales Group, a role in which hel oversaw the combined advertising sales for NBC Broadcast Entertainment, USA, Syfy and WWE. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Marshall held multiple advertising sales and sports positions at Turner Broadcasting between 1999 and 2013.
