Ms Linda Yaccarino (born 1962 or 1963) is an American media executive. She was the chair of advertising sales for NBC Universal. On May 12, 2023, Elon Musk announced that Yaccarino would succeed him as the chief executive officer of X Corp. and Twitter.
Ms Yaccarino was raised in an Italian-American family, with a father who was a police officer and a mother who never went to college.
After graduating from Penn State, she worked at Turner Entertainment for 15 years before joining NBCUniversal, where she oversaw roughly 2,000 people, and was involved with the launch of its streaming service.
Her work has been marked by close collaborations with big brands, finding opportunities for product placement and convincing them to advertise alongside television shows – even ones with a reputation for edgy content, such as Sex and the City when it first launched.
She has also built relationships in new media with the likes of Apple News, Snapchat and YouTube.
A 2005 profile in an industry publication portrayed her as a busy, married mother-of-two children, then aged 13 and 9.
“I have absolutely no hobbies,” she said at the time.
Yaccarino grew up in Deer Park, New York. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications in 1985.
Yaccarino worked for Turner Entertainment for 15 years, becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer of ad sales where she played a key role in developing innovative advertising and marketing solutions.Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in October 2011. As the head of NBCUniversal’s advertising sales, she played a key role in the launch of Peacock streaming service.
In 2018, President Donald Trump appointed her to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Yaccarino became chair of the Ad Council’s board of directors in January 2021, for a term that ran until June 30, 2022. As chair, Yaccarino partnered with the Biden administration in 2021 to create a coronavirus vaccine campaign that featured Pope Francis. She also chaired the future of work task force for the World Economic Forum.
Yaccarino and her husband, Claude Madrazo, have two children. They live in Sea Cliff, New York.