--- title: "Elon Musk Didn’t Bother Telling Twitter’s New CEO She Was Hired Before Announcing It" description: "Hiring Spree Learning you're fired via tweet is one thing — but learning that you're about to take over as the CEO of Twitter from an Elon Musk post is another entirely. In an interview with the Financial Times, Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of the social network now known as X, admitted that she was somewhat […]" date: "2023-09-28" modified: "2023-09-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-twitter-ceo-announcement" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "nbc" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Didn’t Bother Telling Twitter’s New CEO She Was Hired Before Announcing It ![Learning you're fired via tweet is one thing — but learning that you're about to take over as Twitter CEO from an Elon Musk post is another entirely. ]() *\Image: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for The Female Quotient\* ## Hiring Spree Learning you're fired [via tweet]() is one thing — but learning that you're about to take over as the CEO of Twitter from an Elon Musk post is another entirely. In an [interview with the *Financial Times*](), Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of the social network now known as X, admitted that she was somewhat blindsided when [Musk tweeted]() in May that she'd been named chief executive and would "be starting in \[around\] six weeks!" According to *FT*'s sources, Yaccarino had agreed to take the position but needed to wrap some things at NBCUniversal first just hours before Musk's announcement, but she hadn't expected him to make it public so soon. She also hadn't told her employer, where she was the head of global advertising at the time, that she would be leaving. The move sounds characteristic of Musk's infamously [chaotic leadership style](), which often involves throwing out the rulebook entirely. That kind of approach often comes at the cost of his employees, who are left to pick up the pieces after being blindsided by him. ## Poor Timing When Musk posted the abrupt news, the former *NBC* executive had reportedly been in the middle of finalizing a massive presentation set to take place at New York's famous Radio City Music Hall. When she saw the tweet, she pulled her deputy Joe Benarroch aside and showed it to him. "We need to leave the building," Benarroch whispered. "Right now." Though the president of Comcast, *NBC*'s parent company, supported Yaccarino when she told him the news, her hastily-announced departure put the company in a tailspin. As one *NBC* ad executive [told *Insider*]() shortly after the news dropped, Yaccarino's exit was like the "Cuban missile crisis." "This couldn't have happened at a worse time," the senior staffer, who was not named but was said to work closely with Yaccarino, revealed. ## Under Pressure If things were bad at *NBC* when she left, however, they've only been worse since she took over the reins, at least ceremonially, at X-formerly-Twitter. Though Yaccarino appeared to maintain her now-characteristic [cheery disposition]() throughout the exchanges *FT* published, she said the visibility and pressure associated with running this iteration of the social network have taken their toll. "The thing that weighs on me a great deal is the pressure and the burden of the intense and relentless public scrutiny," the CEO said. "I don’t know if any human being could anticipate or prepare for that." "It’s hard," Yaccarino admitted. "It’s hard on me. It’s hard on my family, my children, my parents, and that, I would say, in the first 100 days is a continual learning process to balance that." More on X-formerly-Twitter: [*Don Jr's Twitter Account Got Hacked, Posted That Trump Had Died*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()