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Some news stories are gobsmackingly obvious in their importance. Others are complete nonstories. So what to make of the departure of Linda Yaccarino after two years as CEO of X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk? On the surface, its a story. But truthfully, her exit is about as newsworthy as the departure of a rank-and-file programmer. Her departing tweet was chipper (she called X a digital town square for all voices), but its difficult to discern whatif anythingwill change in her absence. After two incredible years, Ive decided to step down as CEO of . When @elonmusk 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. Im immensely grateful to him for entrusting me— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) July 9, 2025 She arrived in mid-2023 as the slick ad chief meant to lure blue-chip brands back to a platform Musk had turned into a carnival of chaos. Two bruising years later, ad dollars remain skittish, the hate-speech headlines louder (she exits in the middle of xAIs Grok deciding it hates Jews and doesn’t care who knows about it), and the companys fate still yoked to Musks midnight posting habit rather than Yaccarinos boardroom polish. Yaccarino was a puppet CEO, and even months into her tenure, Musk seemed to lose interest in tugging at the strings. Her brand safety crusade evaporated each time Musk reposted conspiracies or amplified antisemitic tropes, detonating whatever confidence shed just sold. Her promise of a changed X during a Senate hearing was promptly undercut by the owner bragging about slashing bureaucracy. Advertisers that dared to dip a toe back in bolted again after Musks live-streamed harsh instruction to nervous brandsGo fuck yourselfmade her Cannes talking points look like fan fiction. (X did not respond to Fast Companys request for comment.) The root problem was structural: Yaccarino accepted a job whose remit was satire. She was asked to run the company, but given no control over product, policy, or the owners timeline. Her calendar filled with advertiser therapy sessions while Musk torched their brand guidelines in real time. That dissonance turned a respected NBCUniversal exec into the corporate equivalent of a cardboard cutout: a caricature of boardroom propriety, rolled onstage for investor calls, wheeled off when the real show began. Critics might argue no mortal could tame Musks libertarian bent. Perhaps. But Yaccarino compounded the risk by embracing it. A chief executive who cannot veto a single repost or freeze a buggy rollout was a mascot, not a leader. Her legacy, then, is cautionary: credibility cannot be subcontracted. And brand safety doesn’t mean anything if you don’t follow words with action. Yaccarino departs with her résumé intact enough for the conference circuit. We can probably expect a TED talk on leading through turbulence by Christmas, and wink-wink appearances on podcasts (NDA permitting). In the end, Yaccarinos departure is newsworthy only as a footnote in Musks ongoing demolition of X; she is, ultimately, just another professional reputation left smoldering in his wake.
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E-Commerce
After only two years on the job, Linda Yaccarino announced on X Wednesday that she is stepping down as CEO of Elon Musk’s social media platform. Musk hired Yaccarino to run X in 2023. When @elonmusk 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 posted. Im 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. Yaccarino’s post did not indicate why she was leaving. Yaccarino’s departure comes as X has been plagued by criticism of its right-wing partisan politics and growing antagonistic tone. Meanwhile, Musk himself has also been highly criticized for his role in gutting a number of U.S. federal agencies in the name of efficiency through his brainchild, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) resulting in Tesla’s stock tanking, Tesla Takedowns boycotts, and his own plummeting ratings. The news comes days after Musk’s artificial intelligence platform Grok faced backlash for antisemitic and offensive posts. (X users shared Grok posts that used the phrase “every damn time” in response to Jewish surnames, which has been seen as an antisemitic meme, as well as screenshots of it openly praising Hitler.) Musks artificial intelligence company xAI built Grok, and then integrated it into the X platform. In response, the Anti-Defamation League responded on X that Grok “is irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic, plain and simple.” “This supercharging of extremist rhetoric will only amplify and encourage the antisemitism that is already surging on X and many other platforms,” it also wrote. On Wednesday, it added, “In this moment, tech companies need to be leaning forward to fight antisemitism and extremism. Instead, many are taking huge steps back. ADL data shows that when social media platforms make cuts to moderation tools, an explosion of antisemitism follows.” Fast Company has reached out to X for comment on Yaccarino’s departure, as well as the Grok backlash.
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E-Commerce
Yesterday, Apple unexpectedly announced the most radical shakeup to its C-suite in years. The company revealed that Jeff Williams, its current chief operating officer (COO), will be departing the role this month and retiring at the end of the year. Williams has been in the position since 2010 and, as COO, oversees Apples worldwide operations. When Williams steps down, his current subordinate, Apples senior vice president of operations, Sabih Khan, will assume the COO role. Both Williams and Khan are extremely competent leaders and are deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. Both have also been with the company since the 1990s. However, of the two men, only Williams has made the typical short lists of current Apple executives who are possible replacements for Tim Cook once the current CEO retires. That poses the question: Now that Williams is retiring, who are the potential successors left at Apple to become the next CEO? Tim Cooks potential Apple CEO successors Back in 2023, I explored the possible executives at Apple who could step into the CEO role once Tim Cook retired. Cook has been Apple’s CEO since Steve Jobs passing in 2011, and under his leadership, Apple has transitioned from a company worth billions to one worth trillions. Its understandable, then, that finding a competent successor to Cook is top of mind for many institutional Apple investors, not to mention the company’s board. In my previous exploration of Cooks possible successors, Williams was perhaps the most obvious choice among the execs I mentioned. Perhaps no one, aside from Cook, has as comprehensive an understanding of what it takes to keep all the widgets moving and wheels spinning at Apple as Williams does, I wrote. hes at least as qualified, if not more, than Cook was when he assumed the role of Apple CEO. And that remains true. But now that Williams is retiring, as he says, to spend more time with friends and family, including five grandchildren and counting, he is no longer an option. So, who is, among the executives at Apple in 2025? Here are the five most likely candidates: John Ternus: Ternus is Apples senior vice president of hardware engineering, holding the role since 2013. If you’ve watched Apples keynotes in recent years, youll know hes an increasingly visible member of Apples C-suite, which may be a sign in itself that the company sees him as CEO material. Ternus played a major part in the transition of the companys computers from Intel chips to Apple Silicon, one of the best moves the company has made recently, and has overseen hardware engineering on the companys most popular products, including the iPhone, iPad, Macs, and AirPods. A big bonus is that Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as a product designer, suggesting that, like Jobs, he has a keen eye for product detail. Sabih Khan: While Khan was serving as Apples senior vice president of operations, he didnt seem like an obvious candidate for CEO, despite his 30-year history at the company. But now that he will soon be the companys COOarguably its most important position besides CEOand will also report directly to Cook, one cant help but think that Apple may be prepping Khan, and making investors comfortable with him, to take the CEO role when Cook retires. As VP of ops, Khan has a deep understanding of managing Apples global supply chainknowledge that is critical in this world of tariff uncertainty we live in. Craig Federighi: Besides Cook, Federighi is probably Apples most recognizable figure. The silver-haired exec features heavily in Apples keynotes, usually in humorous scenarios, like being an F1 race-car driver. He also happens to be the companys senior vice president of software engineering, overseeing its most important operating systems: iOS and macOS. However, as Ive learned from interviewing him many times, Federighi also possesses a deep understanding of the tech industry as a whole and the significant role technology plays in everyday society. Those are skills that the CEO of one of the worlds largest tech companies needs to have. Eddy Cue: Cue is Apples senior vice president of servicesan increasingly important revenue stream for Apple, considering, like most services, they are high margin and profits are made via recurring subscriptions. Cue oversees Apple Music, Apple News, iCloud, Apple TV+, and more. He also played a central role in the creation of the original iTunes Music Store in 2003, which marked a paradigm shift in the way music was purchased and consumed. Whats especially astounding is that in 2014, Apples services brought in just $4.8 billion in revenue. However, under Cues leadership, the division generated $100 billion for fiscal 2024. Services are a critical part of Apples future, and a deep understanding of the sector is critical for Apples next CEO. Greg Joswiak: Better known as Joz, Joswiak is Apples senior vice president of worldwide marketing. That probably gives him a better understanding of Apples narrativeand how the company presents itself to consumers and the worldthan anyone else at Apple. And next year, Joswiak will have been with the company for 40 years, which gives him unique insight into its culture. Hes seen Apple at its worst (the post-Jobs ’80s and ’90s) and its best (the late ’90s-early 2000s Jobs renaissancenot to mention the Tim Cook era). He was also instrumental in developing the original iPodthe device that turned Apple into a 21st-century tech juggernaut. Age matters My educated guess is that Apples next CEO will come from the above list. These executives have a long history with the company (and its culture) and are reportedly well-liked by both leadership and everyday employees in Cupertino. However, many on this list have one thing going against them: their age. While age often equates to experience and understandingqualities critical for a CEO with increasing age comes the increasing likelihood of retirement. CEO shakeups bring uncertainty, and, generally, the longer a CEO stays in place, the more uncertainty ca be mitigated. And investors, Apples board, and its employees are going to want to know that Apples next CEO is going to stick around for a long while. When Tim Cook became CEO in 2011, he was only 50. He has now been in the position for nearly 14 years. Stakeholders are going to want Apples next CEO to stick around for a long time as wellat the very least seven to ten years, if not longer. Williams is retiring at the age of 63are other Apple execs going to stay around much longer? From the list above, Greg Joswiak is already 61, Eddy Cue is 60, Sabih Khan is 59, Craig Federighi is 56, and John Ternus is 50. If Cook sticks around even just a few more years, three of those men would already be in their 70s when they would hit their tenth year as CEOand thats if they wouldnt choose to do what Williams is doing: enjoying his retirement while he is still relatively young. This makes me think that the Apple CEO investors would be most happy with is John Ternus, Apples current senior vice president of hardware engineering. It is worth noting, however, that Apple is under no obligation to select its next CEO from within its ranks. The board may choose to appoint someone from the outside to be Apples next chief executive. But with the exception of a current non-Apple executive, such as former Apple design chief Jony Ive, I dont see investorsor Apple employeesreacting well to someone who does not have a long (and recent) history with the company. For the good of Apple, Tim Cook should remain CEO for a while Just because COO Jeff Williams has announced his retirement, it doesn’t mean Tim Cook has to follow him out the door shortly after. Still, the current CEO has said that Apple does have detailed succession plans in place for that inevitable day. And it is very likely that Cook is in his final years as CEO. He has been in the position for 14 years already, and at 64, he must be thinking about leaving professional life to enjoy retirement while he is still quite young. Yet, as I argued earlier this year, I believe it is imperative that Cook does not leave Apple before 2029. Why? Because the business world is facing more uncertainty than it has in decades. President Trumps tariff wars, America First policy, and grudges against businesses that dont comply with his wishes expose even the largest companies, such as Apple, to significant risk and uncertainty. But Apple has one thing many other businesses dont right now: a CEO with a relatively good personal relationship with President Trump. And like it or not, in times like these, that matters.
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E-Commerce
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