In a surprising shake-up at X, Linda Yaccarino announced Wednesday that she resigns as CEO of the social media giant after a two-year run marked by sweeping changes, high-stakes culture wars, and Elon Musk’s aggressive push to demolish the platform’s old, leftist orthodoxy.
“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of X,” Yaccarino wrote in a farewell post on the platform. “I’m incredibly proud of the X team — the historic business turnaround we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.”
After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏.
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) July 9, 2025
When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me…
Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive with deep ties to corporate media, joined X in 2023 shortly after Elon Musk seized control of the platform. Her appointment was seen by some as a concession to advertisers.
But in reality, she helped lead one of the most aggressive corporate overhauls in tech history — transforming the once-woke, censorship-heavy Twitter into a more open and combative platform aligned with free speech and anti-establishment values.
From day one, Yaccarino and Musk were united in their mission: to gut the left-wing ideological machinery that had long dominated Twitter, and rebuild it into a bold, free-speech-first platform that could compete with mainstream news outlets, legacy tech, and the regime media.
Under Yaccarino’s leadership, the platform launched xAI, the artificial intelligence arm powering its in-house chatbot Grok — a Musk-driven answer to ChatGPT designed to “tell the truth even when it’s politically inconvenient.”
That chatbot stirred up controversy earlier this week after posting content some claimed was antisemitic — but sources familiar with Yaccarino’s decision say the resignation had nothing to do with Grok or the controversy surrounding it.
In her farewell post, Yaccarino didn’t mention the incident and instead focused on the achievements during her tenure — which include product innovation, AI development, and breaking the advertising stranglehold once held by legacy brands still clinging to political correctness.
She also praised Elon Musk — the company’s owner and longtime critic of the platform’s old “woke” guard — for his vision and courage to shake up Silicon Valley’s status quo.
It’s unclear who will replace Yaccarino, but some insiders speculate Musk may resume day-to-day leadership of the company, especially as he ramps up the platform’s transformation into an “everything app” — blending social media, AI, payments, and content creation under one digital roof.
Critics on the left have long accused Musk and X of enabling “dangerous” speech — which is often code for dissenting from progressive orthodoxy. But defenders say the platform has become a last refuge for free speech in an increasingly censored digital world.