NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino to replace Elon Musk as Twitter CEO

NBCUniversal said on Friday its advertising chief, Linda Yaccarino, will leave the company after reports that she is in talks to become the new CEO of Twitter.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that he had found a new chief executive for the social media site, but did not name the person. Yaccarino, who modernized the Comcast Corp entertainment and media division’s advertising business, was reportedly in talks for the job, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

Her exit is another big blow to the company after NBC parent Comcast said last month that NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was leaving after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation.

Advertising President Mark Marshall will step in as interim chairman of NBCUniversal’s advertising and partnerships group.

Yaccarino joined NBCU in 2011, after 15 years at Turner Entertainment and has been credited with dragging the network’s ad sales operation into the digital future.

As broadcast television audiences migrated to streaming, she took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall last year to tell advertisers that their brand messages were not an afterthought.

Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, completed his purchase of Twitter in October for $44 billion. He said in December that he would step aside as CEO once he found “someone foolish enough to take the job.”

On Thursday, Musk said he will transition to the role of chief technology officer of the social media platform within the next few weeks.

Shares of Tesla rose 2.3% on Friday, as analysts commented that a CEO hire would allow Musk to concentrate on the EV business. Comcast shares were little changed in morning trading.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in New York and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gaffen, Anil D’Silva and Chizu Nomiyama)