Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Elon Musk's X, to step down in surprise move

Elon Musk-owned social platform X's CEO Linda Yaccarino said on Wednesday she would step down from the role in a surprise move.

Her exit comes at a difficult time for Musk, who is dealing with falling sales at his EV maker Tesla and is embroiled in a war of words with US President Donald Trump.

Yaccarino did not give a specific reason for her decision. X and Yaccarino did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

She took the top job in 2023 to help Musk transform the company after he bought it in a $44 billion deal.

Prior to becoming the CEO of X, Yaccarino spent several years modernizing the ad business of Comcast's NBCUniversal.

The social media platform is dealing with a heavy debt load, and Yaccarino has had to often deal with controversies stirred up by Musk, including his endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories in late 2023.

The company later sued numerous advertisers and an advertising group, alleging they colluded to deny X ad dollars.

In March, Musk's AI startup xAI acquired the social media platform in a $33 billion all-stock deal.

Its chatbot Grok removed what it called "inappropriate" social media posts on Tuesday after complaints from X users and the Anti-Defamation League that Grok produced content with antisemitic tropes.