Thread by @xDaily

BREAKING: Linda Yaccarino is in talks to become the new CEO of Twitter, according to people familiar with the situation.

- WSJ

Ms. Yaccarino, chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCU, has been with NBCU for more than a decade, where she has been an industry advocate for finding better ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising.

As head of NBCU’s advertising sales, she was key in the launch of the company’s ad-supported Peacock streaming service.

This could be key as Twitter starts to get into the streaming business

Source: wsj.com/amp/articles/n…

We called this a few hours ago when discussing with our subscribers.

Watch her interview with Elon last month!

In that interview, Elon Musk heard a surprising applause from advertisers as he said “Freedom of Speech is paramount”

Even if it means losing advertising dollars from organizations that don’t believe in that.

He also talked about how bad Twitters Ad targeting had been. They JUST added the ability to have your ad next to a keyword after he got there.

Elon had previously given more details about this in a previous Twitter space in December.

Summary of the interview via @garyblack00

1/ TWTR mission = freedom of speech

2/ Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach

3/ Elon assured advertisers TWTR had safeguards to prevent inappropriate speech being located next to ads

4/ Community notes another safeguard to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Elon has a well documented history of working with female leaders like Gwynne Shotwell

Hopefully he finds similar chemistry with @lindayacc

During the takeover when Elon had little support, she was one of the only people in the media rooting for him

“He can learn advertising,” Yaccarino said. “Give me a break, I think we can teach him.” And Yaccarino encouraged the ad industry to be part of that solution.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Linda's Linkedin Profile

Her Post about Twitter 2.0 after #possible2023

Notable Experience:

1) At NBCUniversal, she currently serves as Chairman, Global Advertising & Partnerships

2) She sat on his President Trumps Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition

3) She is Global chair of YMU, a British talent-management group.

4) She is Chairman of the… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

And as the media tries to FALSELY give credit to @karaswisher for calling this first, our subscribers know it was actually us.

Check the time stamps 😉

Another sign that may point towards Linda as the candidate is that in the BBC interview on April 11, Elon seemed to indicate it was difficult to find someone willing and able to do the job - "it's a hard job". He met up with Linda in Miami the next week, on April 18th.