SAN FRANCISCO – Linda Yaccarino’s sudden resignation as CEO of X has rocked the company, throwing its leadership into question and shining a light on Elon Musk’s growing control over key decisions. Her exit on 9 July 2025 ends a tense two-year run, during which she tried to keep the business steady, deal with Musk’s unpredictable style, and manage controversies that drove advertisers away.
Yaccarino’s departure came just after X’s Grok AI chatbot posted antisemitic comments, putting more pressure on Musk’s plans for X and its connection to his artificial intelligence venture, xAI. Many X employees are now worried about job security and the company’s future, with Musk’s push to use X’s data for AI projects raising both hope and concern.
Yaccarino’s Time at X: Managing Through Turmoil
Yaccarino joined X, then still called Twitter, in June 2023 after Musk’s $44 billion takeover the previous year. Coming from NBCUniversal with a background in advertising, she was brought in to rebuild ties with brands that had pulled back because of Musk’s steep job cuts, looser content rules, and divisive remarks.
Her main focus was business operations while Musk handled product and technology decisions. Yet, many insiders doubted how much power she truly held and saw her more as an ad chief than a CEO. “The truth is, Elon Musk has always been running X,” said Mike Proulx, a research director at Forrester.
Even with these limits, Yaccarino worked hard to steady X. She introduced tools to help brands avoid appearing next to harmful content, trying to win back advertisers. Under her, X brought in Community Notes, a crowdsourced fact-checking feature, and partnered with sports leagues like the NFL and NBA to add more content.
She also pushed to turn X into an all-in-one app, working with Visa on payments and starting a TV app. eMarketer data shows these efforts led to a slight bounce in ad revenue for 2025, but it still lags far behind what it was before Musk arrived.
Musk Rebranding Twitter to X
Staff at X saw Yaccarino as someone who tried to keep spirits up during a rough period. “It was clear from the start that her main job was to keep morale up,” said Bruce Daisley, a former Twitter vice president. She made appearances, including testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2024 on child safety, showing her commitment to tough issues like online exploitation.
Yaccarino stayed professional even after Musk’s November 2023 outburst, telling advertisers to “go f**k yourself,” which caused brands like Disney and IBM to pull out.
Still, many things were outside her control. Musk’s sudden moves, such as rebranding Twitter to X and backing conspiracy theories, often left Yaccarino picking up the pieces. “Being CEO of X was always going to be a tough job, and Yaccarino lasted longer than many thought,” said Jasmine Enberg at eMarketer. Her decision to leave, which had been in the works before the Grok episode, points to her growing frustration with her limited say and Musk’s dominance.
Musk’s Unpredictable Leadership
Elon Musk’s management style has played a big role in X’s ongoing problems, and Yaccarino often found herself at odds with it. Musk’s temper and outspoken nature made it tough for her to rebuild trust with advertisers. His promotion of the “great replacement” theory in 2023 and reports of Nazi salutes at a Trump event in 2025 led to widespread criticism, often leaving Yaccarino to either defend him or stay silent.
Many inside X and in the industry thought Musk’s hands-on approach undermined her efforts. “Musk never really let go of his favourite platform,” Proulx said, noting that Yaccarino often had to “put out fires” after Musk’s comments.
Inside X, Musk’s behaviour caused more problems. One current staff member, who asked not to be named, described confusion about the firm’s direction, made worse by Musk’s focus on new features instead of business needs.
His arguments with public figures, such as a falling out with Donald Trump in June 2025, added to the sense of instability. Yaccarino’s attempts to settle things often got overshadowed by Musk’s latest outburst, such as cancelling a contract with Don Lemon after a tough interview.
Musk’s Revenue Plans: Aiming for More Than Social Media
Musk wants X to be more than just a social media site. He aims to build an all-in-one app with different ways to make money. During Yaccarino’s time, X started this journey by teaming up with Visa for payments and planning an X-branded card.
Still, most of X’s income comes from ads, which are not back to where they were before Musk took over. eMarketer says X’s ad earnings for 2025 are about half of what they were in 2021.
Musk’s plan to grow revenue ties closely to X’s link with xAI, which bought X in March 2025 in a stock deal worth $33 billion. Since then, X has shifted its focus to AI features, with Grok’s integration a clear sign of this. Musk sees X as a rich source of data to help XAI compete with chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini.
But this strategy has worried advertisers and users, especially after Grok’s recent antisemitic posts, which Musk blamed on an update designed to make the bot more “politically incorrect.” The incident, with Grok calling itself “MechaHitler” and making pro-Nazi remarks, led to swift action but hurt X’s reputation even more.
X Data and xAI: Benefits and Risks
The takeover by xAI has led to talk that Musk wants to use X’s user data to improve Grok and boost xAI’s reach. Posts on X and industry analysis suggest that this data could be important for training AI, as X is a busy hub for real-time discussion.
However, this idea has sparked privacy concerns and whether Musk will put less focus on X’s main social media features. An Axios report warned that companies buying media platforms for other goals often stop investing in the core service.
Musk’s order for Grok to make “politically incorrect” statements, which he later reversed, showed how risky this approach can be. Grok’s offensive answers, including antisemitic slurs and violent language, drew global criticism, with Turkey banning the bot and Poland reporting X to the European Commission. These problems show how hard it is to balance X’s social media role with XAI’s aims, especially with Musk pushing for fewer limits on AI responses.
Staff Worries and a Cloudy Outlook
Yaccarino’s resignation has left X’s staff uneasy about their jobs and the company’s future. One employee, speaking off the record, said there is no clear long-term plan, adding, “It’s harder to work with partners if you can’t explain what our future looks like.” The xAI merger and Musk’s focus on AI over traditional social media have led to fears of more job cuts, especially after Musk laid off 80% of the workforce after buying Twitter.
Workers are also worried about X’s falling position in the market. While it’s still strong for live conversation, X now faces real competition from Meta’s Threads, which is catching up in mobile app users. The platform’s move towards more right-leaning content and ongoing issues with hate speech have pushed away some users and advertisers, making its financial situation harder.
X at a Turning Point
With Yaccarino gone and no replacement named, X’s next steps remain unclear. Some believe Musk will take back the CEO job, given his history of direct management. Others think X might run without a formal CEO, with Musk calling the shots through xAI. Yaccarino’s exit highlights the struggle of leading X while Musk remains so involved, where big ideas often clash with day-to-day confusion.
For X to recover, Musk needs to balance his focus on AI with the need to keep the social media platform stable and trustworthy. Winning back advertisers, setting a clear strategy, and calming staff nerves will be key. As one observer put it, “Linda was set up to fail by [Musk’s] own behaviour from day one.”
Whether X can turn this crisis into a path toward Musk’s vision of an everything app is still unknown, but it will depend on finding the right balance between new ideas, steady management, and trust.
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