Elon Musk to step down as Twitter CEO? Tesla billionaire says he found new chief, a woman

Elon Musk has announced that he has hired a new CEO for Twitter, but did not reveal the name of the person. However, according to his latest tweet, the new Twitter chief is a woman. He also said that he would transition to the role of chief technology officer of the social media platform in the next few weeks.

In his latest tweet, Musk said, "Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops."

Who is the new Twitter chief?

The Wall Street Journal reported that Linda Yaccarino, a Comcast NBCUniversal executive, was in talks for the job. The report cited people familiar with the situation, and a Silicon Valley executive and a former Hollywood executive also said that Yaccarino could be Musk's choice to lead Twitter.

Who is Linda Yaccarino?

Yaccarino is the top advertising sales executive at NBCUniversal. She interviewed Musk at an advertising conference in Miami last month, but did not respond to calls seeking comment. An NBCUniversal spokesperson said that "Linda is in back-to-back rehearsals for the Upfront" when asked for comment.

Possible candidates for the job

Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and a top executive at Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink, Shivon Zilis, were among the names being discussed by Twitter employees on the anonymous messaging app Blind. Top female executives from Musk's other companies, such as SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Tesla Inc Chair Robyn Denholm, could also be named, according to a senior portfolio manager at CI Roosevelt.

Musk's early announcement of stepping down

Elon Musk took over as CEO of Twitter when he completed his $44 billion purchase of the company in October. He said in December that he would step aside as CEO once he found "someone foolish enough to take the job." The departure of the previous CEO, Jack Dorsey, was not related to Musk's takeover.

What is the impact of Yaccarino's potential departure from Comcast NBCUniversal?

Yaccarino's exit from Comcast NBCUniversal would be another big blow to the company after CEO Jeff Shell announced that he was leaving following an investigation into an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company.