Linda Yaccarino (born 1962) is an American media executive. She was the chair of advertising sales for NBCUniversal On May 12, 2023, Elon Musk announced that Yaccarino would succeed him as the chief executive officer of X Corp. and Twitter. Yaccarino grew up in Deer Park, New York. She is of Italian descent. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University's Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1985. Yaccarino worked for Turner Entertainment for 15 years, becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer of ad sales where she played a key role in developing innovative advertising and marketing solutions. Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in October 2011. As the head of NBCUniversal's advertising sales, she played a key role in the launch of Peacock streaming service. Yaccarino joined the Ad Council in 2014. In 2018, President Donald Trump appointed her to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Yaccarino became chair of the Ad Council's board of directors in January 2021, for a term that ran until June 30, 2022. As chair, Yaccarino partnered with the Biden administration in 2021 to create a coronavirus vaccine campaign that featured Pope Francis. She also chaired the future of work task force for the World Economic Forum. Yaccarino resigned from NBCUniversal on May 12, 2023, and on the same day Elon Musk announced that Yaccarino would be the new chief executive officer of X Corp. and Twitter. On her appointment, the Financial Times noted Musk's scepticism about the World Economic Forum and Yaccarino's links to the organization, which he had previously criticised for "increasingly becoming an unelected world government." Musk reassured fans that he did not see Yaccarino's links to the WEF as an impediment to his self-proclaimed commitment to free speech, writing of her appointment as Twitter CEO that, "the commitment to open source transparency and accepting a wide range of viewpoints remains unchanged