Linda Yaccarino announced she’s stepping down as the CEO of X on Wednesday morning, prompting X owner Elon Musk to respond with a terse “thank you for your contributions.” And while it comes just a day after Grok decided to go full Nazi, reporting from both NBC News and the New York Times suggests Yaccarino’s departure had already been in the works last week. Whatever the reason behind Yaccarino’s decision, the company needs a new CEO. And Polymarket is already taking bets.
The bets are coming in quickly, and things can change on a dime with online betting markets like Polymarket. But as of this writing, the current favorite for the question of who will become the next CEO of X appears to be “No CEO announced in 2025.”
Other top contenders include former T-Mobile CEO John Legere; Nikita Bier, the current head of product at X; and Andreessen Horowitz’s Sriram Krishnan, who currently works as a senior policy advisor on AI for the Trump White House. Another politically connected name in the mix is David Sacks, who works as Trump’s so-called crypto czar. Jason Calacanis, a co-host of the All-In podcast with Sacks, is also on the Polymarket list.
Prominent women on the list include current SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. If you’re wondering why anyone is betting that Wojcicki, who died in Aug. 2024 from cancer, would become the CEO of any company, so are we. Perhaps they think an AI version of her could serve or something. And in that same vein, Grok is also on the list.
Another name on the list is Musk himself, which seems like a solid bet given the fact that Musk doesn’t like to share the spotlight with anyone. If you were to poll Americans, there’s a good chance most people believe Musk is already the CEO of X. Yaccarino was brought on in May 2023 to calm the nerves of advertisers who were alarmed by Musk’s extreme decisions and erratic behavior after buying Twitter in late 2022.
One name absent from the list is Katie Miller, Musk’s right-hand woman at DOGE, who departed her work in government when Musk left on bad terms with Trump. Miller is the wife of Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to Trump who regularly appears on TV to spout the most vile, racist things about immigrants that you can imagine.
Is there a dark horse candidate that people aren’t betting on just yet? That’s entirely possible. But it’s hard to see why any normal person would want to take the job. Even if you agree with Musk ideologically (this is the guy who did two Nazi-style salutes at Trump’s inauguration, after all), you’re going to be constantly fighting with him to get anything done. Musk is reportedly extremely difficult to work with, and frankly, it’s a miracle that Yaccarino lasted as long as she did.
Does anyone know if David Duke is looking for a job? Or perhaps Nick Fuentes? Don’t forget that Musk himself welcomed Fuentes back to X despite previously being banned for his antisemitic and white supremacist views. He could be just the guy for the job.
Read the full article here
