Linda Yaccarino, the Ex of X
X CEO Linda Yaccarino has become an ex-X CEO. She is stepping down after two years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media site, formerly known as Twitter, which he purchased in October 2022. Musk hired Yaccarino in June 2023 to run Twitter and rebranded it as X the following month.
In her departure announcement, Yaccarino thanked Musk for the opportunity and touted her accomplishments.
“X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal,” wrote Yaccarino. “We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world.”
Musk penned a short reply, thanking her for her contributions. Yaccarino also received affirmation from many conservative, libertarian, and independent commentators, including Megyn Kelly, Michael Shellenberger, and Charlie Kirk, who credit her with guiding X through a tumultuous time and luring advertisers back to the site while living up to Musk’s free speech commitments.
Less kind parting words—indeed, he sounded vaguely threatening—came from Steve Bannon, an archenemy of Elon Musk. In a characteristically wild rant on his own news show, Bannon said of Yaccarino: “You can run, baby, but you can’t hide.” He vowed to pursue her with lawsuits and other measures, though he also implied that she was a stabilizing force for the platform and that Musk’s erratic behavior would be uncontrollable without her.
Some background here: Musk and Bannon have been vying for influence over President Donald Trump from the outset of his second term. They represent two very different contingents of the MAGA base: Bannon’s faction is stridently anti-immigration and inclined toward tariffs and economic populism, whereas Musk is somewhat more pro-immigration and in favor of free markets and economic libertarianism.
Unfortunately, Musk and Trump have fallen out hard over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Musk rightly considers to be a monstrosity t
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