Elon Musk noted that X CEO Linda Yaccarino is leaving the social media platform with a far-from-heartfelt five-word message.
“Thank you for your contributions,” Musk posted on X on Wednesday.
Musk’s post was in reply to one from Yaccarino announcing she’s leaving the company after two years.
“When Elon Musk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company,” Yaccarino wrote. “I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App. I’m incredibly proud of the X team — the historic business turnaround we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.”
Musk and Yaccarino have had a sometimes fractured relationship during her tenure as CEO of X. In September 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk was going over her head and was still the one making major decisions regarding the platform.
In June 2024, the Financial Times reported that Yaccarino was nervous because Musk was piling on the pressure for her to “raise revenues and lower her expenses,” including cutting staff from U.S. and U.K. sales teams.
Soon after Yaccarino announced she was leaving X, Thierry Breton, a business executive and former commissioner for the internal market of the European Union, asked Musk if he “need[s] help,” writing, “Europe’s got talent.” Musk responded “sure [cry laughing emoji].
Yaccarino did not provide further details on why she’s leaving the social media app formerly known as Twitter, which Musk has owned since 2022. Her departure comes on the heels of a new fiasco involving Grok, Musk’s own AI chatbot integrated into X, which recently began spewing antisemitic posts, praising Adolf Hitler, and referring to itself as “MechaHitler.”
Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI later deleted the posts and vowed that it has “taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.”
Grok has run into trouble several times since its launch on X, including saying it was “skeptical” that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust and ranting about claims of “white genocide” in South Africa.
Musk has also had to publicly criticize Grok, accusing it of “parroting legacy media” after it suggested that right-wing violence has become “more frequent and deadly” than left-wing attacks in recent years.
The latest antisemitic posts from Grok arrived just days after Musk promised that the chatbot had improved “significantly” following its previous rogue responses.
In her statement announcing her departure, Yaccarino added: “X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal. We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world. I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world.”
Elsewhere, shares in Musk’s eclectic vehicle company Tesla fell further amid the billionaire’s falling out with President Donald Trump, which has included Musk threatening to set up a new third political party.
