Get All Access for $5/mo

Linda Yaccarino Talks X's 'Liberation from Twitter' and What, Exactly, Elon Musk Is Now 'Responsible' For The chief executive of X spoke to CNBC in her first-ever interview as CEO.

By Emily Rella

Getty Images
Linda Yaccarino

It's been three months since Linda Yaccarino was officially announced as Elon Musk's successor as CEO of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Though Yaccarino has remained active on the platform, even touting lengthy anecdotes about the company's rebranding, she's remained relatively silent to the media about her takeover — until this week.

Related: Linda Yaccarino Is The New CEO Of Twitter

In her first formal sit-down interview since taking over X, Yaccarino spoke to CNBC about the company's debt and what she hopes to build the company out to in the near and far future.

"Coca Cola, Visa, State Farm is a huge partner, they're coming back — the last bunch of weeks, continued revenue growth," Yaccarino told the outlet, referring to the company's biggest advertisers and noting that X was "close to breakeven."

Twitter has been bleeding advertisers since Musk's acquisition of the company last November for $44 billion, with a February 2023 report showing that more than half of the platform's top 1,000 advertisers had stopped their services.

Yaccarino also distinguished between her role and Musk's at the company, and how that will shape the future of X.

Related: Twitter Is Now Officially 'X': 'There's Absolutely No Limit to This Transformation'

"Elon is working on accelerating the rebrand and working on the future," she said. "And I'm responsible for the rest. Running the company, from partnerships to legal to sales to finance."

Musk's current title at X is Chief of Technology.

Yaccarino then touched on the rebranding of Twitter to X, and why the change was so important to the overall evolution of the platform.

"The rebrand represented really a liberation from Twitter," she explained. "A liberation that allowed us to evolve past a legacy mindset and thinking. And to reimagine how everyone, how everyone on Spaces who's listening, everybody who's watching around the world. It's going to change how we congregate, how we entertain, how we transact all in one platform."

Twitter officially became X, a.k.a. the "everything app" last month, with Musk announcing the rollout via the platform.

The billionaire has been teasing the concept of X for quite some time, even saying at the time of his acquisition that he hoped Twitter would serve as an "accelerant" for X.

Yaccarino was equally as excited about the rebrand at the time, teasing a bright and big future for the X community.

"For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfill our great potential," she said at the time. "X will do that and more."

Emily Rella

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle He Started in His College Apartment Turned Into a $70,000-a-Month Income Stream — Then Earned Nearly $2 Million Last Year

Kyle Morrand and his college roommates loved playing retro video games — and the pastime would help launch his career.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

A Former Corporate Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How She Does It

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Growing a Business

How to Determine The Ideal Length of Your Marketing Emails Your Customers Will Actually Read

Wondering how long your marketing emails should be? Here's what consumers say — so you can send them exactly what they like.

Business News

Y Combinator Helped Launch Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. Here's What I Learned From Its Free Startup School.

The famed startup accelerator offers a free course on building a business — and answers five pressing questions for founders.