Linda Yaccarino shakes things up at X after Elon Musk puts pressure on costs

Linda Yaccarino, a year since she was appointed chief executive of X, has shaken her inner circle as she is under pressure from Elon Musk. She faces the need to increase sales and reduce costs.

Three people with knowledge of the situation said that Yaccarino terminated her right-hand person and head for business operations and communication, Joe Benarroch.

Two X workers said that Yaccarino held Benarroch accountable for, among other things, bungling Benarroch’s rollout of its new adult content policy, by failing to inform clients about the changes before they became public.

The people who spoke to us said that Nick Pickles will take over Benarroch’s responsibilities. His role has been temporarily expanded to include the direction of all global communication.

Several people have said that Pickles, who is one of the few top Twitter employees to survive the billionaire takeover, attended the Cannes Advertising Festival with Yaccarino, and Musk, for the first.

The shake-up is seen as a blessing for Pickles. He was born in Britain and ran for office as Conservative MP before quickly rising through the ranks to oversee the platform’s public policy, as well as its relationships with governments.

The reshuffle is a result of growing tensions between Musk, Yaccarino and NBCUniversal. This stems from Yaccarino’s struggle to stabilize X’s finances a year after Musk hired her from NBCUniversal.

One X senior employee said that she was becoming increasingly nervous because Musk put pressure on her. For example, Musk urged her to cut staff in the US and UK and reduce spending on travel.

One employee said that some of the recent staff losses are related to the regular performance reviews. Yaccarino told employees that “performance management” would be the focus of a meeting held this month.

Two people familiar with this matter said that at the same time as Yaccarino made his changes, Steve Davis was also brought in to review X’s finances and performance management. Davis is a longtime Musk ally who is the chief executive of the Boring Company.

Davis is evaluating the low-performers, said one person, and he’s targeting dozens jobs, added another. Some saw the move as an indication of continued concerns about the platform’s financial health.

Davis, an aerospace expert, led a cost-cutting initiative at X after its acquisition in 2022. He decided on job cuts, slashed day-today expenses, and renegotiated data licensing agreements and company policies.

Musk’s efforts sparked speculation he could be running for the position of chief executive after he purchased X (then known as Twitter) and sacked the then-CEO.

Two people who are familiar with Yaccarino’s thinking say she knows he is a threat to authority. Davis’s spouse also works at X, and is responsible for its real estate strategy.

The Verge was the first to report Davis’s new duties.

Musk and Yaccarino are in Cannes this week to try and win back the ad agency bosses and brand managers who have pulled their spending on the platform due to concerns over content moderation and Musk’s provocative posts and leadership style.

Executives from X say that more than 60% of brands who had paused their advertising in recent months have resumed it, albeit in a small way.

According to a person who was familiar with Musk’s conversations with advertisers, X management wanted to emphasize that the platform is safe for brands and highlight new features like video and targeted advertising. Some advertising chiefs told Cannes that the site wasn’t on their “preferred list” of channels for their brand clients.

X and Musk didn’t respond to comments. Benarroch’s departure, first reported by The Wall Street Journal in its July issue, was not responded to.