Linda Yaccarino is an American media executive, businesswoman, philanthropist, and public speaker. In 2023, she was appointed as the CEO of Twitter and X Corp. by Elon Musk. She is the first female CEO of Twitter.
Wiki/Biography
Linda Yaccarino was born on Wednesday, 24 October 1962 (age 60 years; as of 2022) in Long Island, New York, U. S. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She spent her childhood in Deer Park, a hamlet and census-designated place in New York. She did her schooling at Deer Park High School. In 1985, she did a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and telecommunications at The Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications in Pennsylvania. While studying at college, she did an internship at NBC.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Family
Linda Yaccarino belongs to a family of Italian descent.
Parents & Siblings
Her father’s name is Bob Yaccarino, and her mother’s name is Isabella Bartolone.
Linda Yaccarino with her father
Linda Yaccarino’s parents
She has two sisters named Lori Yaccarino Armstrong, who is Linda’s twin sister and works as a chief nurse executive at Kaiser Permanente, and Kate Yaccarino, who works at MUFG Union Bank.
Linda Yaccarino with her twin sister, Lori Yaccarino Armstrong
Linda Yaccarino with Kate Yaccarino
Husband & Children
She is married to Claude Peter Madrazo, who is also an American of Italian descent like her.
Linda Yaccarino with Claude Peter Madrazo
The couple has two children; her daughter, Christian Madrazo, is a nurse at New York-Presbyterian, and her son, Matthew Madrazo, is a former NCAA Division 1 hockey player and the sales director at digital video company Studio 71.
Linda Yaccarino with her daughter
Career
In January 1992, Linda Yaccarino was appointed as executive vice president and COO (Chief Operating Officer) of ad sales at Turner Entertainment Company, where she handled innovative advertising, acquisition, and marketing solutions. she worked at Turner for more than 19 years. In November 2011, she joined NBCUniversal Media as the president and managed cable entertainment and digital advertising sales. In September 2012, she was promoted to the position of chairperson, where she handled advertising and client partnerships.
In 2014, she joined Ad Council, an American non-profit organisation. In 2018, she was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition by the then-President of the United States, Donald Trump. From January 2021 to June 2022, she held the position of the chairperson of the board of directors of the Ad Council. In 2021, she created a coronavirus vaccine campaign in collaboration with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and Pope Francis. She has been appointed as the chairperson of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Work task force. In October 2020, she was held in charge of managing global advertising and partnerships as the chairperson. While working for NBCU’s advertising sales, she played a major role in launching the company’s streaming service, Peacock. After working at NBCUniversal Media for more than 11 years, she stepped down from the position on 12 May 2023. In May 2023, Elon Musk appointed her as the CEO of Twitter and X Corp.
I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.
Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- 2011: Selected as one of the ‘Ten Most Powerful Women in TV’ by Adweek
- 2011: Selected as a ‘CEO of Tomorrow’ by Business Week
- 2013: Recognised as one of ‘Women in Entertainment: Power 100′ by The Hollywood Reporter’
- 2014: Listed as one of the ‘Power Women of New York’ by Variety
- 2015: Listed on the ‘Power 50’ list by Adweek
- 2017: Listed on ‘Top 15 People Remaking Television’ list by Digiday
- 2017: Received the Mac Dane Award for Humanitarian Excellence from UJA Foundation
- 2018: Inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable (B&C) Hall of Fame
- 2019: Recognised as ‘Top 10 People Transforming Advertising’ by Business Insider
- 2020: Honored with the prestigious Matrix Award by New York Women in Communications
- 2020: Received Distinguished Alumni Award from Pennsylvania State University, for her exceptional achievements and contributions to the advertising industry
- 2020: Received Matrix Award presented by NYWICI
- 2021: Received Inclusive Leader Award by GlobalMindED
- 2022: Listed on New York Women’s Impact Report by Variety
- 2022: Listed on ‘Top 100 Female Executive Heroes’ by inVolve
- 2022: Received the ‘Women of the Year’ Award from the non-profit organisation ‘She Runs It’
Facts/Trivia
- According to a media house, she earned the nickname ‘Velvet Hammer’ in the advertising industry due to her negotiating style and grabbing some biggest ad deals in television history.
- From 2011 to 2012, she appeared on the Italian version of the reality TV show ‘Big Brother’ titled ‘Grande Fratello.’
- According to sources, she resigned from NBCUniversal Media only a few hours before she was announced as the CEO of Twitter.
- In 2017, she was featured on the cover of the Adweek magazine.
Linda Yaccarino on the cover of Adweek magazine 2017
- Before her appointment as the CEO of Twitter, she interviewed Elon Musk at an advertising conference in Miami in April 2023.
Linda Yaccarino interviewing Elon Musk