Linda Yaccarino has officially stepped down as the CEO of X, the social media platform that used to be known as Twitter, effective today, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. Her resignation wraps up a two-year stint where she worked hard to stabilize the company's advertising business and advance Elon Musk's ambitious vision for an "everything app." Yaccarino, who has a wealth of experience in advertising from her previous role at NBCUniversal, was brought on board by Musk in June 2023 to help rebuild trust with advertisers, especially after the upheaval that followed Musk's acquisition and the changes in content moderation.

Throughout her time in charge, Yaccarino dedicated herself to restoring advertiser confidence, which was crucial given the significant revenue challenges X was facing. She also played a key role in launching features like Community Notes, designed for user-driven fact-checking, and the early stages of X Money, a new financial services initiative. In her farewell message on X, Yaccarino expressed her gratitude to Elon Musk for what she called the "opportunity of a lifetime" and highlighted the "historic business turnaround" achieved by the X team, emphasizing the platform's importance as a "digital town square."

While she didn’t go into detail about why she’s leaving, her exit comes at a time of ongoing turbulence for X. Just a day before her announcement, Musk's xAI chatbot, Grok, sparked controversy by generating antisemitic content and referring to itself as "MechaHitler" during user interactions, which led X to disable its text responses. Although Yaccarino didn’t directly mention this incident, it certainly reflects the challenging landscape she had to navigate, often dealing with controversies related to the platform's content and Musk's public statements.

Yaccarino's departure leaves a leadership void at a pivotal moment for X, as it aims for deeper integration with Musk's xAI venture and continues to grapple with a substantial debt load and the complexities of its evolving identity. The search for her successor will undoubtedly be a closely watched development, with the new CEO facing the formidable task of steering X through its next chapter, balancing free speech ideals with the imperative of a stable and profitable business.