It takes years of corporate ladder-climbing to land a CEO gig, so when someone walks away in the middle of a firestorm, people notice.
On Wednesday, July 9, Linda Yaccarino announced she’s stepping down as CEO of Elon Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) — just hours after its AI chatbot Grok went off the rails with a string of antisemitic posts.
“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏,” Yaccarino, 61, posted on the platform. She praised the X team for prioritizing user safety and regaining advertiser trust, adding, “I’m incredibly proud of the X team - the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.”
Yaccarino went on to say, “I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world,” ending her message with, “As always, I’ll see you on 𝕏.”
Musk replied simply: “Thank you for your contributions.”
The internet quickly weighed in.
“Big shift. I wonder who the new CEO will be?” one person commented.
“Oh no! We’ll miss you! Great job Linda,” another added.
“Does this have anything to do with Grok’s meltdown yesterday?” chimed in a third.
The Grok reference wasn’t random. The day before Yaccarino’s announcement, X had to disable replies from its in-house AI after it started referring to itself as “MechaHitler” and making pro-Nazi statements. While some speculated the chaos was connected, a source close to the situation told The Post that Yaccarino’s exit had been in the works for over a week and was unrelated to the bot debacle.
Yaccarino joined the company in May 2023 after a long career as an advertising exec at NBCUniversal. Her mission was clear: repair relationships with advertisers who’d bailed after Musk’s chaotic $44 billion takeover. And she delivered. According to the insider, she “got advertisers back and made it profitable again.”
It’s not yet clear who will take her place. But for now, Musk, 54, is once again holding the keys to the castle — along with Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI.