Linda Yaccarino fires off first tweets as new Twitter CEO

Linda Yaccarino has tweeted her thanks to Elon Musk for appointing her as the company’s new CEO.

Musk named Yaccarino as the new Twitter chief on Friday and she will begin work in the next six weeks. On the same day, she stepped down as ad sales chief at NBCUniversal after 12 years at the media company.

“Thank you Elon Musk!” Yaccarino tweeted on Saturday. “I’ve long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!”

When announcing his new hire on Friday, Musk, who acquired Twitter in October for $44 billion, said Yaccarino will focus “primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.”

Following her appointment, Yaccarino noticed a sudden uptick in the number of people following her Twitter account, with more than 380,000 people currently watching her every word.

“I see I have some new followers,” the incoming Twitter chief tweeted. “I’m not as prolific as Elon Musk (yet!), but I’m just as committed to the future of this platform. Your feedback is VITAL to that future. I’m here for all of it. Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together!”

With Musk known to be fond of getting directly involved in any project that he’s linked to, many are keen to see to what extent he takes a back seat and lets Yaccarino get on with the job.

A tweet directed at Musk on Friday expressed concerns over his decision to pick Yaccarino, citing comments she made with Musk during a recent on-stage interview that suggested she might make moves to limit certain kinds of speech on the platform to keep advertisers onside.

“I hear your concerns, but don’t judge too early,” Musk tweeted in response. “I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.”

In a statement posted by NBCUniversal announcing Yaccarino’s departure from the company, Yaccarino said: “It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team. We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry.”

Now many are watching to see if she’ll have a similar impact at Twitter.

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