Linda Yaccarino’s appearance on stage with Elon Musk at a recent marketing conference in Miami Beach was tantamount to an interview that ultimately landed her the role of Twitter’s latest CEO, in line with one observer who noted the “chemistry” between the 2.
Yaccarino, head of promoting sales at NBCUniversal, who has agreed to take over as CEO of Twitter, peppered Musk with questions on his management of the social media company throughout the April 18 “Possible” summit.
“There was chemistry,” Lou Paskalis, CEO of selling consultancy firm AJL Advisory, who has been a Yaccarino client for 35 years, Fortune said.
Yaccarino was chosen to interview Musk as a part of a chat titled “Twitter 2.0: From Talks to Partnerships.”
Through the conversation, Yaccarino referred to Musk as his “buddy”. She also admitted to being “obsessed” and “fascinated” by Musk’s takeover and Twitter takeover.
The Miami Beach confabulation was seen as Musk’s try to make peace with advertisers spooked by his newly implemented content moderation rules, which were put in place after the Tesla mogul acquired the social networking site for $44 billion last October.
Observers noted that Yaccarino didn’t hold back and asked Musk tough questions on his tweeting habits.
“I actually have to push you a bit because there are numerous people on this room who vote with their wallets,” Yaccarino told Musk on April 18.
She pressured Musk over his tweets expressing contempt for “cancellation culture” and mocking pronouns utilized by transgender and non-binary people.
Yaccarino told Musk that advertisers who were present in Miami Beach were “refraining” from doing business on Twitter.
“What is going to you tell them on this room?” Yaccarino asked Musk, who replied that his tweets needs to be perceived as “sarcastic” or “a joke”.
At one other point within the interview, Yaccarino questioned Musk about his late-night tweeting habits.
“You said you almost certainly shouldn’t tweet after 3am,” Yaccarino said.
“Will you commit to being slightly more specific and never tweeting after 3am?”
Those familiar with Yaccarino have described her as a “tough” Italian – a “Long Island lady” – who “can each encourage and terrify” her employees.
In line with Fortune, Yaccarino inspires the loyalty and trust of his most devoted subordinates, who in turn are rewarded with an invite to intensive SoulCycle sessions.
Her critics say she favors employees she likes by rewarding them with promotions they do not deserve.
One source told Fortune that she developed sharp elbows within the male-dominated industry, which enabled her to rise through the ranks of NBC.
“She endured numerous misogyny. She’s faced numerous men,” certainly one of the informants who worked with her told Fortune.
“There’s nothing modest about her.”
Yaccarino can be reportedly known for her staunch pro-republican political opinions.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump appointed her to his Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
But Paskalis told Fortune that Yaccarino kept his views “quite private”. He also predicted that he could be a temperance force that may show more restraint in comparison with the easy-going Musk.
“She’ll probably have the ability to calm down [Musk’s] enthusiasm for extreme comments, but they create more balance,” Paskalis said.