Bad news for Elon Musk as X CEO Linda Yaccarino and 14 top execs of SpaceX, Tesla, X, resign due to...
In growing exodus at tech billionaire Elon Musk-led companies, Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X (former Twitter), has resigned after just two years, as the string of departures of top executives at Musk's companies continues, with fourteen other senior execs quitting their roles at Tesla, SpaceX, and X over the past 12 months. Why Linda Yaccarino resigned from X?
While Linda Yaccarino sudden exit from role at X remains largely unexplained, insiders claims her departure was prompted by several factors, including internal tensions, advertiser exodus, and falling trust among users, that signals a deepening stability at the Elon Musk-owned social media plafform.
Yaccarino, who previously served as the global chair of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, took over as the CEO of X in June 2023, where she was brought in to stabilize the company and reassure advertisers after many left in droves following Musk's takeover of of the platform.
In her farewell message, Linda thanked Elon Musk for entrusting her with the mission of turning X into the 'Everything App' and upholding free speech. Who else left Elon Musk-led companies?
According to insiders, Yaccarino's exit is not a standalone phenomenon, but troubling pattern emerging within companies owned by Elon Musk, where fourteen other top executives have quit Tesla, SpaceX, and X in the last one year, citing instability and strategic disagreements. Here's are the other execs who left Musk during last 12 months: Omead Afshar – former head of Tesla sales (North America & Europe) Jenna Ferrua – director of human resources, Tesla Milan Kovac – head of the Optimus robot program, Tesla Vineet Mehta – head of battery architecture, Tesla Mark Westfall – head of mechanical engineering, Tesla Energy David Lau – VP of software engineering, Tesla Tom Ochinero – VP of commercial sales, SpaceX Nick Pickles – VP of global affairs, X Renato Leite Monteiro – global data protection officer, X Haofei Wang – head of product engineering, X David Zhang – program manager for Cybertruck & Roadster, Tesla Joe Benarroch – head of operations, X Brett Weitz – head of content & brand, X Dave Heinzinger – head of media strategy, X
Additionally, the Head of infrastructure engineering at Musk-led AI company stepped down recently and joined Sam Altman's OpenAI. What led to the exodus?
While specific reasons behind mass resignations at Elon Musk-led enterprises are not public knowledge, industry watchers cite the billionaire's political ambitions, which have increasingly intertwined with his corporate ventures, being one of the primary causes of growing chaos and instability at his companies, and also raises questions about his ability to retain top talent.
Additionally, executives who left Elon Musk have cited instability, internal dissensions, strategic disagreements, and fractured workplace environment as some of the reasons that prompted their exit.
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