New CEO Says She’s Excited About Transforming Twitter

Newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a tweet on Saturday that she has been inspired by owner Elon Musk’s vision to create a brighter future and is excited to help to transform the social media platform.

It was the first time Yaccarino has spoken publicly since the news broke Thursday that she was in talks to become the next CEO of Twitter. Musk, who has served as CEO since his $44 billion buyout of Twitter last October, announced her appointment on Friday.

“I’ve long been inspired by [Musk’s] vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!” Yaccarino tweeted.

Yaccarino, who as advertising chief for Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal spent several years modernizing its ad business, said she is committed to Twitter’s future, and said user feedback is vital to build Twitter 2.0.

Yaccarino will take over a social media platform that has been trying to reverse a plunge in ad revenue and is beset with challenges, along with a heavy debt load.

Since Musk acquired Twitter, advertisers have fled the platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of staff. Musk earlier this year acknowledged that Twitter had suffered a massive decline in ad revenue.

While Musk said Yaccarino would help build an “everything app,” which he has previously said could offer a variety of services such as peer-to-peer payments, his selection of an advertising veteran signaled that digital ads would continue to be a core focus of the business.

Musk has long said he intended to find a new leader for Twitter.

Musk, who is also the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc, on Friday said that bringing Yaccarino on as Twitter’s new chief will help him devote more time to Tesla.