There’s a lot going on at Twitter. The social media company, bought by Elon Musk for $44 billion in October, has gone through a massive downsizing and introduced paid verified check marks, among other things.
Starting this week, the company will have new people among its leadership too. Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, is set to take the helm from the world’s richest man as CEO on Monday. Also joining the business side is Joe Benarroch, a former NBCUniversal colleague of Yaccarino’s, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The new entrants both come with experience in the advertising realm, a key part of Twitter’s business that’s taken a blow since Musk took over the platform last year. Yaccarino used to lead the ad sales division at NBCUniversal, while Bennaroch was the executive vice president of communications, global advertising and partnerships at the entertainment company, according to the Journal.
“Tomorrow, I start a different professional adventure at Twitter, taking on a role focusing on business operations,” Benarroch wrote in a memo, the Journal reported. “I am looking forward to bringing my experience to Twitter, and to working with the entire team to build Twitter 2.0 together.”
In a tweet Sunday, Yaccarino confirmed the news publicly, saying: “Welcome to the flock, @benarroch_joe! From one bird to the next. Let’s get to work @Twitter! #timetofly”
Welcome to the flock, @benarroch_joe! From one bird to the next.
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) June 4, 2023
Let’s get to work @Twitter! #timetofly
Twitter did not immediately return Coins2Day’s request for comment.
The new additions come at a tricky time for Twitter. Just last week, the company lost two top lieutenants—both in charge of the safety of Twitter in their capacities. Ella Irwin, who oversaw content moderation and policy, resigned Friday, as did head of brand safety A.J. Brown. Irwin’s and Brown’s resignations have been linked to how Musk dealt with an issue surrounding trans people.
These departures aren’t a great look for Twitter amid a proliferation of hateful content. The world’s richest man relaxed content rules and revived banned accounts after they were suspended for bad conduct, including those of former President Donald Trump and right-leaning Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Studies have found that hate speech on the social media platform has also doubled since Musk became the “chief twit.”
The direction Twitter was heading didn’t bode well among advertisers, many of whom halted or reduced their funding after the takeover. The company’s ad sales have dropped significantly since Musk bought Twitter last year. Between February and March of 2023, the top 10 advertisers of Twitter cut their spending by 89% compared to last September and October, according to data firm SensorTower, Bloomberg reported. Its advertising revenue is estimated to be $2.98 billion in 2023, down 28% from 2022, according to research firm Insider Intelligence cited by Reuters in April.
There have been improvements—Twitter has introduced new brand safety tools and strategies that help companies monitor what tweets appear with their ads. Some of these measures have already attracted spending from brands like pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, the Journal reported. Musk said in March that even though the company has lost much of its ad revenue, he expects it to turn cash-flow-positive this year, thanks to cost-cutting and efforts to bring more advertisers back. But it’ll still be an uphill task for Yaccarino and her team to rebuild the ad business, which in 2021 made up nearly 90% of Twitter’s revenue. There are still challenges keeping advertisers away, including sharing a platform where right-wing media personality and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson plans to air a new show.
