Linda Yaccarino, the Elon Musk-appointed CEO of X Corp, said she has “autonomy” under his ownership in an interview likely aimed at luring advertisers back to the platform.
Yaccarino told CNBC’s Sara Eisen that X, formerly Twitter, is a “healthier” platform than when Musk took over, emphasizing the work the platform’s trust and safety team has done.
Hate speech and even potentially illegal content were a significant problem after Musk initially purchased the platform, compounded by the fact that Twitter cut 15% of the department in November.
That had advertisers running for the hills and has put the recently appointed Yaccarino in a position to need to win them back. Thus far, Coca-Cola, Visa and others have returned under her leadership, Yaccarino said.
Crucially, she insisted that brands are “protected from the risk of being next to” potentially inflammatory content but added that if content is “lawful but awful” it can be difficult to take down.
“You might not agree” with all posted content, she said.
In terms of headcount, X is sitting at about 1,500, compared to 8,000 before Musk acquired the company.
Meanwhile, Yaccarino even weighed in on the proposed cage match between her boss and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“Elon is training,” Yaccarino said, calling the match a “great brand sponsorship opportunity.”
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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