Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of the richest people in the world, has appointed an experienced advertising executive to the management of Twitter, the social media site he has been running since he bought it last fall. A lot of people are wondering who is Linda Yaccarino, the new CEO of Twitter, how old is she, is she married?
Musk announced Friday that he has hired Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of San Francisco-based Twitter, now called X Corp. Yaccarino's role will mainly focus on running the company's business operations, and he will focus himself on product design and new technology.
Here's what you need to know about Yaccarino.
Who is Linda Yaccarino, how old is she, is she married?
Linda Yaccarino is an American media executive born in 1963. She was head of ad sales for NBC Universal. On May 12, 2023, Elon Musk joined X Corp. and announced that it would replace Yaccarino as CEO of Twitter. Yaccarino and his wife, Claude Madrazo, have two children. They live in Sea Cliff, New York.
Yaccarino, 60, has been working as an advertising executive for decades. He came to NBC Universal in 2011 as Comcast completed its merger with NBC and oversaw the integration of the companies' ad sales platforms. There, his most recent title was president, advertising and client partnerships. He oversaw all market strategy and advertising revenue for NBC Universal's entire portfolio of broadcast, cable and digital assets, totaling nearly $10 billion.
Prior to that, he held various positions at Turner Broadcasting System Inc. from 1996 to 2011, including vice president and operations manager. This was after holding management positions at several media outlets.
"He's a marketing leader," said Mark DiMassimo, founder and creative chief of DiGo ad agency.
Referring to his role as marketing manager, he added, “He talks to the CMO and understands what marketers need.”
PUSH THE LIMITS
Yaccarino has forced the ad industry to change on many fronts, including advocating less reliance on Nielsen ratings for measurement and introducing a digital platform called One Platform, which facilitates the buying of ads in a variety of different mediums, to do better. Compete for ads against social media companies and traditional media companies.
“It is worth noting that they have built a great team that has produced many innovative products and supported the growth they have experienced,” said Brian Wieser of strategic consulting firm Madison and Wall. “They're pushing the industry on so many fronts, you know, trying to make it better.”
“First and foremost, I think it will bring Twitter an understanding of what advertisers need to see in terms of brand safety to come back to the platform,” said Dave Campanelli, chief investment officer at media buying firm Horizon Media. “He knows better than anyone what it takes, and I think the question for advertisers and buyers is, will he be free to do all this or will everything be the same old, same old (with) everything? Musk)."
BIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
Yaccarino serves as chair of the World Economic Forum's Future of Work Task Force. A 1985 graduate of Pennsylvania State University, she lives with her husband, Claude Madrazo, in Sea Cliff, New York. They have two children, Christian and Matthew.