After two tumultuous years on the helm of X, CEO Linda Yaccarino introduced her departure from the corporate final Wednesday. Who will change her—as X is absorbed into Elon Musk’s AI enterprise xAI—stays unsure.
What most agree on: the following chief will look very totally different.
“I don’t recall anybody who informed the advert group to ‘go fuck yourselves‘ after which mentioned, ‘ what? We actually want a powerful ad-sales-based CEO,’” mentioned Matt Prohaska, CEO and principal at media advisory agency Prohaska Consulting.
Promoting on X earlier than Musk’s takeover generated upwards of 90% of the corporate’s income. Since Yaccarino was appointed CEO in Might of 2023, following swaths of massive manufacturers abandoning the app over model security issues exacerbated by Musk’s lax strategy to content material moderation, some manufacturers returned with diminished spend, whereas others confronted litigation.
However whereas X’s battle with the advert trade flares, promoting is turning into much less central to its enterprise mannequin within the wake of the corporate’s $45 billion all-stock acquisition by Musk’s AI agency xAI in March. X’s advertising-dependent mannequin might quickly be supplanted by a primarily subscription-based AI service, with X’s wealthy knowledge used to coach LLMs.
On this rising paradigm, any successor to Yaccarino would want to supply technological know-how.
“X’s priorities have shifted since Yaccarino grew to become CEO in 2023,” mentioned Jasmine Enberg, vp and principal analyst, social media at Emarketer. “Whereas X nonetheless wants advertisers to pay the payments, the corporate is now centered on AI. Yaccarino’s departure paves the best way for X to lean more durable into this new course, and X will possible search for somebody who’s extra suited to the AI period.”
xAI’s takeover of X, taken with the tectonic shifts taking place below X, could nullify the necessity for a conventional CEO altogether. As reported by the Wall Avenue Journal, Yaccarino was successfully demoted in X’s merger with xAI.
Musk might faucet an operational chief to maintain the engine of X, the social platform, operating easily whereas he manages xAI, the AI powerhouse.
X might “get by simply with having a GM, or a conventional CRO,” mentioned Prohaska. “I don’t see Musk needing or wanting a ‘identify’ externally this time round.”
This type of chief may very well be pulled from X’s present expertise pool, in principle. John Nitti, X’s international head of income operations and promoting innovation, could be an apparent contender for a CRO function, in accordance with Andrew Buckman, chief progress officer at media firm Azerion.
“What the platform may very well want is a COO-style chief: somebody to drive day-to-day execution, strengthen advertiser relationships, and run the platform with self-discipline—whereas Musk retains strategic oversight of the AI-driven future,” he mentioned. “It’s a acquainted Musk playbook: centralize imaginative and prescient, decentralize supply.”
Potential candidates would possibly embody present X leaders like Nitti, international head of promoting Angela Zepeda, or head of Americas Monique Pintarelli, in accordance with a Wall Avenue Journal report from final week.
If he’s wanting past X’s 4 partitions, Musk will want a frontrunner who can marry media, content material, and monetization experience with tech savvy, mentioned Javier Rodriguez Horta, international advertising and marketing technique observe lead at advertising and marketing consulting agency CvE. VidMob CEO Alex Collmer and Meta alum Carolyn Everson stand out as robust choices, he mentioned.
On the extra speculative aspect of the spectrum, Ana Milicevic, cofounder and principal at advertising and marketing consultancy Sparrow Advisers, posited: “Maybe the very best CEO for X isn’t an individual however an algorithm.”
Nonetheless, many are skeptical that X’s enterprise will stay centered on promoting: “Elon might faucet a type of succesful [internal] execs in the event that they’re excited about main the dwindling advert observe,” Prohaska informed ADWEEK.
