Word Waves Blog

How Elon Musk’s X Rebrand Undermined Linda Yaccarino’s Leadership The Power Struggle Between Yaccarino and Musk Linda Yaccarino became the CEO of Twitter in May 2023, after Elon Musk stepped down from the role.  She faced a daunting challenge: to revive the struggling social media platform and boost its advertising revenue.  But Musk’s actions soon after his departure made her job even harder.  In July, he announced that Twitter would change its name to X, a move that sparked controversy and backlash in some countries. The name change effectively destroyed Twitter’s global brand identity, according to Christy Glass, a sociologist at Utah State University who has researched the glass cliff phenomenon, where women are more likely to be promoted to leadership positions when an organization is in crisis. “She was hired to restore the ad revenue, and within a month he completely ruined this very successful brand and the recognition that came with it. It feels like he is pullin...