Newly appointed Twitter Inc chief executive officer Linda Yaccarino on Saturday wrote on Twitter that she has been inspired by owner Elon Musk’s vision to create a brighter future, and is excited to help transform the social media platform.
It was the first time Yaccarino has spoken publicly since the news broke on Thursday last week that she was in talks to become the next CEO of Twitter. Musk, who has served as CEO since his US$44 billion buyout of the company in October last year, announced her appointment on Friday.
“I’ve long been inspired by [Musk’s] vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!” Yaccarino wrote.
Photo: AFP
Yaccarino, who was Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal head of advertising spent several years modernizing its ad business, said she is committed to Twitter’s future, adding that user feedback is vital to build Twitter 2.0.
Yaccarino is to take over the social media platform trying to reverse a plunge in ad revenue and is beset with challenges, along with a heavy debt load.
Since Musk acquired Twitter, advertisers have fled the platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80 percent of its staff.
Musk earlier this year acknowledged that Twitter had suffered a massive decline in ad revenue.
While Musk said that Yaccarino would help build an “everything app,” which he has previously said could offer a variety of services such as peer-to-peer payments, his selection of an advertising veteran signaled that digital ads would continue to be a core focus of the business.
TIME FOR TESLA
Musk has long said he intended to find a new leader for Twitter.
Musk, who is also the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc, said that bringing Yaccarino on would help him devote more time to Tesla.
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