Friday, March 13, 2026

Linda Yaccarino’s right-hand man Joe Benarroch is out at X

Linda Yaccarino’s right-hand man Joe Benarroch is out at X

Working for Elon Musk may be the definition of precarious employment, as your entire Tesla Supercharger staff learned the hard way after they were collectively fired without much explanation.

Now it’s Joe Benarroch’s turn. The former head of world operations at X – who was personally hired by CEO Linda Yaccarino just days after taking office – is out after little greater than a yr, in line with his profile is LinkedIn.

And the previous head of world promoting at NBCUniversal could, in line with a report by Financial Times on Sunday. Quote According to anonymous informed sources, Yaccarino felt pressured to shake up her management team and fired Benarroch for allegedly failing to adequately warn customers prematurely that X would soon allow consensual sharing of porn, citing three sources at the corporate. (Pornography has long existed on Twitter, however it was not officially allowed until now.)

While Benarroch’s alleged blindside to his customers could clearly have negative effects, Musk himself has also provided reasons for his or her confusion. Musk tried to lure popular streamers away from Twitch by calling out the Amazon competitor for failing to screen its own platform for adult content. His backtracking just weeks later and officially recognizing pornography as acceptable content was sure to be controversial.

In response to the speech by Assets X responded to at least one comment with the automated statement “Busy now, please check back later.” Benarroch didn’t reply to X’s request for comment.

Musk’s social media platform has been scuffling with heavy losses since he raised costs by $1 billion in annual interest to finance his $44 billion acquisition in late October 2022.

Although X stays a non-public company, its problems threaten to spill over into Tesla, as the electrical automobile maker is Musk’s important source of income and stock sales have been used to fund his Twitter enterprise. Tesla stock has fallen 50% since Musk’s involvement with the social media platform became public in April 2022.

In September, Yaccarino suggested X could actually turn a profit in early 2024. But an investigation by a nonprofit that found evidence that X had placed ads next to pro-Nazi posts subsequently sparked an exodus of advertisers from corporations like Disney and reignited concerns a few potential financial collapse. Rather than diplomatic moves, Musk opted to go on the attack, threatening to pillory advertisers if X went bankrupt.

Direct threat to Yaccarino’s authority

Musk appears to be dissatisfied with the pace of improvements at X and tapped His Boring Company CEO, Steve Davis, should take a better have a look at the corporate’s cost base, which Yaccarino’s confidants told the FT was a direct challenge to their authority.

Yaccarino herself was continuously confronted with speculation that she was nothing greater than a puppet of the CEO, release the warmth Musk is anticipated to steer the corporate’s management and, if obligatory, throw grenades for the billionaire.

Last week, as she spoke about how difficult it was for her to beat her imposter syndrome – the sensation that she didn’t really deserve his status and position – she was asked what the very best news she had ever received from him was.

Rather than give an example of how he builds her up or encourages her to do her best, Yaccarino’s first thought was in regards to the day Musk announced her hiring – nothing that has happened within the 13 months since.

Yaccarino’s room for maneuver was already limited within the face of ongoing losses, and now she must also bear the blame for personally vouching for her former advisor Benarroch.

Unless Yaccarino can higher tap into her extensive address book to regain her contacts within the promoting industry, Benarroch is probably not the one former NBCUniversal executive who must update her LinkedIn profile.

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