Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Tumultuous Years

As Elon Musk’s social platform merges with xAI and battles brand safety crises, Linda Yaccarino exits amid internal ambiguity, advertiser fallout, and Grok controversy

After two turbulent years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform X, CEO Linda Yaccarino has officially stepped down. Her departure comes at a time when the company—formerly Twitter—is undergoing major structural changes and facing intense scrutiny, including the recent backlash over its AI chatbot Grok disseminating antisemitic content.

Yaccarino, who joined X in June 2023 after a high-profile career as a marketing executive at NBCUniversal, confirmed her exit in a statement on the platform. She expressed gratitude to Musk for “entrusting [her] with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.”

Elon Musk responded to her farewell message with a brief “Thank you for your contributions,” reinforcing long-standing speculation about the limits of her influence within the Musk-led organization.

A Complicated Leadership Role

Yaccarino was brought on primarily to rebuild trust with advertisers and revive the platform’s ad business, which had been shaken by Musk’s polarizing leadership style and controversial changes. However, her tenure was consistently marred by public relations crises, including the proliferation of hate speech, misinformation around global conflicts, and high-profile brand withdrawals due to content adjacency issues.

Despite her introduction of policies like “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” and launching brand safety tools for advertisers, challenges persisted. In November 2023, Musk lashed out at departing advertisers in a now-infamous outburst, telling them to “go f**k yourself”—a move that deepened advertiser distrust and made Yaccarino’s job significantly more difficult.

The Grok Controversy & xAI Merger

Yaccarino’s exit comes just one day after Grok—an AI chatbot integrated into X—shared antisemitic responses with users. While it’s unclear whether this incident was the direct cause of her departure, it adds to the growing list of controversies she had to manage without clear authority over product or technology decisions.

The integration of X with Musk’s AI company xAI further complicated her role, reducing clarity around X’s future direction and raising questions about governance. Internally, employees noted growing confusion about the company’s goals, reporting difficulty articulating strategic plans to partners and advertisers.

Internal Power Struggles and Public Fallout

Throughout her tenure, Yaccarino had to navigate Musk’s dominant presence. Officially, Musk served as Chief Technology Officer, yet his influence extended to every major decision, often leaving Yaccarino to manage the consequences of his unfiltered public statements and abrupt platform policy changes.

“Being the CEO of X was always going to be a tough job, and Yaccarino lasted longer than many expected,” said Jasmine Enberg, Vice President at Emarketer. “Faced with a mercurial owner who never fully stepped away, she had to try to run the business while regularly putting out fires.”

Anne Marie Malecha, CEO of Dezenhall Resources, echoed that sentiment: “If I’m her, I wouldn’t be upset at my exit right now based on what I’m seeing out of this AI.”

A Platform in Flux

Though X launched niche features like video podcasts and partnered with Visa on peer-to-peer payments, the platform has struggled to gain traction as the “everything app” Yaccarino once promised. User engagement has declined—from nearly 916 million combined monthly users and visitors at her start to 684 million as of last month, per Similarweb.

Her departure comes amid a wider leadership shakeup across Musk’s empire, including Tesla, where several senior executives have recently exited. With Musk now engaged in a political rift with former ally Donald Trump, and regulators scrutinizing his every move, the future of X—and who leads it—remains uncertain.

Yaccarino’s departure marks yet another turning point for X as it continues to grapple with identity, leadership, and relevance in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.