How hard is it to hire Elon Musk?

X CEO Linda Yaccarino seeks ways to lure advertisers back and restore the platform’s business. But its owner, Elon Musk, often intervenes.

At the end of 2023, X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino contacted Don Lemon’s agent to make an offer. She wanted to bring the former CNN MC’s new show to her platform because of Lemon’s image and audience reach. This gives X more political influence and connections with advertisers.

Soon after, Mr. Lemon became one of the first celebrities to sign on to Ms. Yaccarino’s plan, which was to help save X’s declining advertising business with video and TV shows.

As the owner of the platform, Elon Musk has agreed to be Don Lemon’s first guest.

The interview was held at Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, and began in an awkward atmosphere. Musk admitted that he didn’t know Lemon when he was hosting CNN’s 9 p.m. program. After that, the CEO gradually became frustrated with questions about politics and drug use. “It’s pretty personal,” Musk said when Lemon asked him about the ketamine prescription that Musk posted on X in 2023.

Lemon also mentioned the controversy over sexual harassment at Tesla and SpaceX. Musk raised his eyebrows. “You keep putting words in my mouth,” he protested. When Lemon asked about advertisers leaving X, Musk shook his head: “Don, I have to say choose your questions carefully. You have 5 minutes left.” When the interview ended, Musk got up from his chair and suddenly shook the host’s hand.

The next day, he texted Don Lemon’s agent: “The contract has been canceled.”

Elon Musk crisis

Linda Yaccarino, joined X last year when it was still called Twitter and wanted it to be the “platform of the world. Photo: New York Times.

A day after Musk canceled his contract, CEO Yaccarino called Lemon to find out what happened. She seemed confident that she could mend everything between the two of them.

However, Musk remained adamant and in the end Lemon was removed from the deal. The deal failed, leading to the collapse of another plan created by Ms. Yaccarino to earn more revenue to cover the shortfall.

Time and time again, Ms. Yaccarino has faced similar situations, as Musk has always wanted to interfere with her work.

CEO Yaccarino’s task to recover and rebuild X’s business over the past year has gradually become complicated because Musk has a strong disdain for the advertising industry. He also repeatedly interfered with the plans of her and her colleagues and friends around her.

For example, after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Ms. Yaccarino told several major advertisers that she and X would work together to fight anti-Semitism. Only the following month, Mr. Musk agreed with an article that mentioned anti-Semitic theory right on the platform.

On November 18, CEO Yaccarino called on advertisers to return to X to show the platform that promotes freedom of speech. Shortly afterwards, in a fit of rage and with Yaccarino sitting a few steps away, Musk took the stage at the New York Times DealBook Summit and made obscene remarks to advertisers, firing them from cooperating with other companies.

Previously, when she took the helm on June 6, 2023, Ms. Yaccarino faced a crisis. Musk’s unusual cost-cutting measures have resulted in a pile of unpaid building rent, utilities and software bills. She brought in her most trusted deputy, communications executive Joe Benarroch, from NBCUniversal to help solve this mess.

In the early days, Ms. Yaccarino renegotiated a cheaper contract with Google Cloud, paying for databases and software that helped the company detect and remove child sexual abuse information. At one of the company’s international offices, she also had to pay the heater bill she owed. Before that, employees had to wear coats in the room and try to heat the space with a pizza oven in the kitchen.

However, in July 2023, Musk changed the name of Twitter to X. Although he has publicly talked about wanting to turn the company into X, an “app that has everything”, he suddenly announced the name change without notifying Ms. Yaccarino. Finally, CEO Yaccarino learned of the name change from Musk’s social media posts.

Elon Musk “apology” director

But despite being disappointed by Mr. Musk’s actions, the female CEO will not show it, at least not publicly. The New York Times said that she seemed to have accepted that this is how Mr. Musk works and has to “grit his teeth and endure”. Time and time again, Ms. Yaccarino has defended Mr. Musk’s actions behind the chicken wings.

A few weeks after Musk and Yaccarino appeared together at an industry event, he announced that he had hired NBC’s CEO as CEO. Photo: NBC.

“The sign of a good CEO is not how many punches you can throw but how many punches you can withstand. She’s the Muhammad Ali of CEOs,” said Ari Emanuel, chief executive of entertainment company Endeavour, and an investor in X. Emanuel is also a friend of Musk’s and often talks to Yaccarino about X.

In recent months, the social media company’s business has been struggling as advertisers are still hesitant to cooperate. Research firm Emarketer estimated that last year, X lost about 52% of advertising revenue in the US, falling to $1.13 billion. The company expects X’s loss to slow with a 2.5% decline this year.

CEO X told staff last month that 65% of advertisers had reopened their campaigns, despite spending less money than before. Internal documents obtained by the New York Times show that in the second quarter of 2024, X earned $114 million in U.S. revenue, down 25% from the first quarter and down 53% from the previous year.

The company aims to achieve $190 million in sales in the U.S. in the third quarter, thanks to advertising campaigns related to the Olympics, football and political campaigns. But that target would still put the company’s quarterly earnings at 25 percent lower than last year.

Through all this turmoil, Ms. Yaccarino has remained steadfast in her role. “My job is to pave the way for everyone to succeed and for X to become the foundation of the world,” the CEO said during a meeting at headquarters in May.

Musk’s friends have advised Yaccarino on how she should talk to the billionaire, even offering to mediate the two. Photo: New York Times.

According to internal sources, Ms. Yaccarino, who has built a relationship with boss Elon Musk, often chats by text. Some of Mr. Musk’s friends have advised her on how to interact with the fickle billionaire, or even offered to mediate the two. Some of her former friends and colleagues have begged her to quit her job.

“You have to know this about Linda: Giving up means failing, and Linda can’t allow herself to fail. She’s making money with her reputation to become Elon Musk apologetic director,” concluded Lou Paskalis, a friend and longtime advertising director who criticized Yaccarino’s decision to join Elon Musk.