OUR Elon Musk described the job of CEO of Twitter as “an excruciating job that would be foolish to do.” However, Musk found a successor by Linda Giaccarino. Giaccarino worked for Turner for 19 years, most recently as executive vice president (COO of advertising sales, marketing and acquisitions). She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a liberal arts and telecommunications degree.

1. Relationship with Musk

The mask doesn’t go away. He owns Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion last October. He also confirmed last Thursday that he would remain Twitter’s executive chairman and take responsibility for the platform’s IT infrastructure. Investors in Tesla, where Musk remains CEO, want him to spend more time, but he’s made it clear that Twitter will still be a significant part of his attention.

For her part, Linda Giaccarino, who generated $13 billion in annual advertising revenue, is known for her close relationships with marketers and advertising agencies. Giaccarino is known for her tough negotiations and is referred to by the media as the “Velvet Hammer”. Analysts, advertisers and the industry at large are waiting to see how the relationship develops between them.

2. Attract advertisers

Twitter needs an address that can earn the respect of advertisers, so it makes sense to nominate someone with experience in this area. In 2021, ads accounted for over 90% of Twitter’s $5.1 billion in revenue. According to Sensor Tower, Of the top 100 advertisers on Twitter before Musk bought it, 37 spent nothing on ads. on the platform in the first quarter of 2023. Twitter has faced a huge advertising slump since its acquisition. According to Elon Musk, this was due to the cyclical nature of ad spending, some of which was “political”.

3. Increase in subscribers

To make up for the loss of ad revenue, Musk has created a new Twitter Blue subscription service that offers features like writing longer tweets. Musk has made it clear that subscription revenue is key to Twitter’s financial future.. The updated Twitter Blue offers a verified account that increases the visibility of your posts in conversations and searches, plus other perks like fewer ads, for $8 a month online or $11 on iOS or Android in the US (it’s also available in the UK) . and Australia). However, there were many failures in his work. So far, reach seems low, around 600,000–635,000 subscribers. by one estimate, to a user base of over 250 million people. This represents a monthly revenue of around $5 million per month, far from enough to make up for the decline in Twitter ads.

4. Prepare for X, the “everything” app

The change comes as the platform rolls out a number of new features, including encrypted messaging and video calls. In fact, Musk is said to be close to rebranding Twitter as an “app for everything” modeled after the “X” platform he’s always dreamed of. Twitter’s corporate brand has already been renamed X corp.In June, Musk reportedly told Twitter staff that he was a fan of WeChat, a Chinese app that allows users to perform a variety of functions, from messaging to ordering taxis and paying bills.

5. Regulators

Twitter is under regulatory pressure on several fronts. The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, warned Musk that Twitter was not following the rules for social media platforms. It must also comply with the upcoming UK Internet Safety Bill, which requires tech companies to protect users from harmful content. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also investigating the company to see if the layoffs and cost cuts have impacted data security. If Giaccarino is going to convince the FTC that Twitter isn’t restricting data security, she’ll have to get assurances from Musk, who said on Thursday he would also be Twitter’s CTO.

6. Cost and debt management

Musk’s Twitter takeover bid also includes $13 billion in debt on the company’s balance sheet. That’s a lot of loans for a historically unprofitable company.. Musk warned from his early days at the helm that Twitter was on the brink of bankruptcy, though he said in December that the company was “no longer on the fast track of bankruptcy.” Musk said annual expenses have been slashed from $4.5 billion to $1.5 billion, but to make Twitter sustainable in the long run and pay its $300 million debt on time, the business must be consistently profitable.

Source: Guardian