NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino to depart as head of advertising

NBCUniversal said on Friday its advertising chief, Linda Yaccarino, will leave the company after she was reported to be in talks to become the new CEO of Twitter. Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that he had found a new chief executive for the social media site, but did not name the person.

NBCUniversal said on Friday its advertising chief, Linda Yaccarino, will leave the company after she was reported to be in talks to become the new CEO of Twitter.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that he had found a new chief executive for the social media site, but did not name the person. The Wall Street Journal reported that Yaccarino, who modernized the Comcast Corp entertainment and media division's advertising business, was in talks for the job. Her exit is another big blow to the company after NBC parent Comcast said last month that NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was leaving after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation.

Advertising President Mark Marshall will step in as interim chairman of NBCUniversal's advertising and partnerships group. Yaccarino joined NBCU in 2011, after 15 years at Turner Entertainment and has been credited with dragging the network's ad sales operation into the digital future.

As broadcast television audiences migrated to streaming, she took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall last year to tell advertisers that their brand messages were not an afterthought. Musk completed his purchase of Twitter in October for $44 billion. He said in December that he would step aside as CEO once he found "someone foolish enough to take the job." He said that he would then run Twitter's software and servers teams.