Linda Yaccarino

Linda Yaccarino
Born	21 12, 1963
Birthplace	Long Island, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive
Title	CEO of eMed Population Health
Known for	Former CEO of X Corp. (formerly Twitter)
Education	Pennsylvania State University (BA)
Spouse(s)	Claude Madrazo
Children	2

Linda Yaccarino (born December 21, 1963) is an American business executive who has held senior leadership positions across the media, technology, and digital health industries. She served as chief executive officer (CEO) of X Corp. — the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — from 2023 to 2025, becoming the first permanent CEO hired by Elon Musk after his acquisition of the company. Prior to joining X, Yaccarino spent over a decade at NBCUniversal, where she rose to the role of chairman of global advertising and partnerships, overseeing the media conglomerate's advertising sales operations from 2011 to 2023. Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Yaccarino built a career centered on advertising revenue strategy, forging relationships between major brands and media platforms during a period of rapid transformation in the entertainment and technology sectors. Following her departure from X in July 2025, she was appointed CEO of eMed Population Health, a digital health company focused on GLP-1/GIP population health management.

Early Life

Linda Yaccarino was born on December 21, 1963, and grew up on Long Island, in the state of New York. Details regarding her parents, siblings, and upbringing have not been extensively documented in public reporting. She was raised in a suburban community on Long Island during a period when the New York metropolitan area served as the epicenter of the American media and advertising industries — an environment that would shape the trajectory of her professional life.

Education

Yaccarino attended Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Penn State, located in State College, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest public universities in the United States and has produced numerous graduates in the communications, business, and media sectors. Yaccarino's time at the university preceded her entry into the media and advertising industry, where she would spend the majority of her career prior to moving into the technology sector.

Career

Early Career and Turner Broadcasting

Before joining NBCUniversal, Yaccarino held positions in the media and advertising industry, including a role at Turner Broadcasting System. At Turner, she gained experience in cable television advertising sales, building expertise in the business relationships between content providers and advertisers. Her tenure at Turner established her reputation as a skilled advertising executive and eventually attracted the attention of NBCUniversal, which recruited her in 2011.

NBCUniversal (2011–2023)

In October 2011, Yaccarino was named president of cable and digital advertising sales at NBCUniversal, departing from her role at Turner Broadcasting to join the Comcast-owned media conglomerate. The appointment came at a time of significant transition for NBCUniversal, which was in the process of integrating its operations following Comcast's acquisition of a majority stake in the company.

At NBCUniversal, Yaccarino oversaw advertising sales across the company's portfolio of cable networks, broadcast properties, and digital platforms. She was responsible for managing relationships with major advertisers and developing new revenue models as the media industry grappled with the shift from traditional linear television toward digital and streaming platforms. Over the course of her tenure, her role expanded considerably, and she was eventually elevated to chairman of global advertising and partnerships, making her one of the most senior executives at the company.

During her time at NBCUniversal, Yaccarino played a central role in the company's annual upfront presentations, where television networks pitch their upcoming programming to advertisers and negotiate advertising commitments worth billions of dollars. She was credited with modernizing NBCUniversal's approach to advertising sales, incorporating data-driven targeting and cross-platform measurement into the company's offerings to advertisers.

Yaccarino's influence extended beyond NBCUniversal's internal operations. In January 2021, she was named chair of the board of directors of the Ad Council, the nonprofit organization responsible for producing public service announcements in the United States. The appointment placed her at the helm of one of the advertising industry's most prominent organizations.

Her public profile also grew through her involvement in government advisory roles. She was named by President Donald Trump to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, a federal advisory committee.

On May 12, 2023, Yaccarino resigned from NBCUniversal amid reports that she was in advanced discussions to become the CEO of Twitter, which was in the process of being rebranded as X by its owner, Elon Musk. Her departure from the media company she had served for over a decade signaled a dramatic career pivot into the technology sector.

CEO of X Corp. (2023–2025)

In May 2023, Elon Musk announced that he had hired Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter, which would soon be rebranded as X. The appointment made her the first permanent chief executive hired by Musk since he completed his acquisition of the social media platform in October 2022.

The hiring was closely scrutinized by the media industry and technology press. Yaccarino's background in advertising sales was seen as directly relevant to one of X's most pressing challenges: the exodus of major advertisers from the platform following Musk's takeover. Numerous brands had paused or reduced their advertising spending on the platform due to concerns about content moderation policies, changes to verification systems, and Musk's own controversial posts.

At the same time, some commentators noted that Yaccarino's appointment raised questions about the extent of her authority at X, given that Musk retained ownership of the company and continued to be actively involved in its operations, product decisions, and public communications. Reporting at the time of her hiring indicated that Musk would continue to oversee the platform's product and engineering teams while Yaccarino would focus on business operations and advertiser relations.

Reports also examined Yaccarino's political connections and public affiliations. Her appointment to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition by Donald Trump and her participation in events associated with conservative-leaning organizations drew attention from media outlets analyzing her suitability for a role at a platform that had become a focal point in debates about political speech and content moderation online.

Yaccarino's tenure as CEO of X spanned approximately two years, during which the platform underwent significant changes, including the completion of its rebranding from Twitter to X, the introduction of new subscription models, and ongoing efforts to attract and retain advertisers. The period was marked by continued public debate over the platform's content policies, its relationship with governments and regulators around the world, and the role of artificial intelligence features, including the Grok AI chatbot developed by Musk's xAI venture.

On July 9, 2025, Yaccarino announced that she was stepping down as CEO of X. NPR described her two-year tenure as "turbulent." Axios reported that Yaccarino was the first permanent CEO Musk had hired after purchasing the platform.

Following her departure, legal and regulatory scrutiny of X continued. In February 2026, French prosecutors raided X's Paris offices and summoned both Musk and Yaccarino — identified as the company's former CEO — for voluntary questioning as part of an investigation related to the Grok AI system and concerns about deepfake content.

CEO of eMed Population Health (2025–present)

Less than a month after leaving X, Yaccarino was announced as the new chief executive officer of eMed Population Health, a digital health company that operates a telehealth platform focused on GLP-1/GIP population health management, including services related to weight management. The appointment was announced on August 5, 2025.

The move represented another significant career transition for Yaccarino, shifting from the technology and social media sector into the rapidly growing digital health industry. eMed described itself as "the leading digital health platform for GLP-1/GIP population health management" at the time of the announcement. CNN characterized her new position as being "in the weight loss space."

Personal Life

Linda Yaccarino is married to Claude Madrazo. The couple has two children. Yaccarino has maintained a relatively private personal life throughout her career in media and technology. She and her family are based in the New York metropolitan area, where she spent the majority of her career at NBCUniversal prior to her move to X Corp.

Recognition

Throughout her career, Yaccarino has received recognition from within the advertising and media industries for her role in shaping advertising strategy at major media companies. Her appointment as chair of the Ad Council's board of directors in 2021 reflected her standing within the American advertising community.

Her selection by President Trump to serve on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition also represented a form of public recognition, placing her among a group of prominent Americans chosen to advise the federal government on health and fitness policy.

Yaccarino's appointment as CEO of X in 2023 generated substantial media coverage and was covered by major outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, AP News, CNBC, and Reuters, reflecting the significance of the appointment in both the technology and media industries.

Legacy

Linda Yaccarino's career spans several distinct chapters in the evolution of American media and technology. At NBCUniversal, she oversaw advertising operations during a period when the traditional television business model was challenged by the rise of streaming services, digital advertising, and changing consumer behavior. Her role in navigating that transition — managing billions of dollars in annual advertising revenue across linear television, cable, and digital platforms — placed her at the center of debates about the future of media monetization.

Her tenure as CEO of X represents a notable case study in the intersection of technology leadership, content governance, and advertising economics. Yaccarino took the position at a time when the platform was losing advertisers and facing regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions. The challenges she faced — balancing the commercial imperatives of an advertising-dependent platform with the content and product decisions made by its owner — were extensively documented in the business and technology press throughout her two-year tenure.

Her subsequent move to eMed Population Health in 2025 positioned her within the digital health sector, a field experiencing rapid growth driven by the proliferation of GLP-1 medications and telehealth services. The career trajectory — from traditional media advertising to social media technology to digital health — reflects broader trends in American business leadership, where executives increasingly move across industry boundaries.