Top Executive At X Steps Down From Elon Musk’s Social Platform

X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced Wednesday that she was stepping down from her role at the social media platform, just over two years after Elon Musk selected her to run the company. 

Yaccarino, who was previously the head of global advertising at NBCUniversal, described her time at X as “incredible.” She first became CEO of the company in May 2023. 

“When [Elon musk] 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 with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App,” she said. “I’m incredibly proud of the X team – the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.”

After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of ????.

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…

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) July 9, 2025

The resignation comes one day after Grok, X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, made posts praising Adolf Hitler. Sources familiar with Yaccarino’s decision to step down said that the move had been in the works for over a week, and was not related to the Grok issues. 

Yaccarino highlighted the changes introduced to X during her tenure, including a “Community Notes” feature —a crowdsourced fact-checking and context-adding tool designed to identify misinformation. 

“We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users—especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence. This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform. Now, the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai,” she said. 

“X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal. We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world,” she added. “I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world.”

During her time heading up X, the social media platform also faced pressure from other countries to limit speech on the platform. In April, the European Union was reportedly considering a $1 billion fine for X over alleged “disinformation.” X was also forced to pay a $5 million fine in Brazil after a dispute with Musk over content on the platform.