X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino told CNBC that she has “autonomy” under owner Elon Musk in an interview Thursday, adding that advertisers must be comfortable returning to the platform under her leadership.
Yaccarino pointed to the Tweet announcing her hiring, where Musk underscored his continued control over product and development. Yaccarino told CNBC’s Sara Eisen that her role was “every little thing else” involved in “running the corporate.”
Echoing prior comments from Musk, Yaccarino said that the corporate was “close” to break-even.
Coca-Cola, Visa, and other brands had returned to Twitter promoting under her leadership, Yaccarino added, consequently of her direct engagement with marketing and communications executives.
Questions swirled about Yaccarino’s autonomy under Musk, given his extensive control over the corporate and his other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX. Yaccarino also emphasized Twitter’s apparent effort to enhance advertiser experience, after brands fled from the platform shortly after Musk acquired it.
Brands are “protected against the chance of being next to” potentially toxic content, Yaccarino said. The X Corp. CEO added that if content is “lawful but awful” it’s difficult to remove the content from the platform, but that Twitter’s latest content controls would tamp down on advertiser risk.
The CEO also demurred on a possible cage match between Musk and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg. If it does occur, Yaccarino said, “Elon is training,” emphasizing that a possible cage match could be a “great brand sponsorship opportunity.”
Yaccarino argued that X was “healthier” than it was a year-ago when it was publicly traded. “You may not agree” with all posts, Yaccarino added.
Layoffs were a “very vital cost discipline exercise,” the CEO added. X Corp. now has about 1,500 employees, Yaccarino told Eisen. Twitter employed around 8,000 people before Musk acquired it.
Yaccarino was relatively dismissive of the threat posed by Meta’s Threads, which has seen engagement fall off since a buzzy launch. But, she added, “you may never ever take your eye off any competition.”
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