Newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino says she has been inspired by owner Elon Musk's vision to create a brighter future and is excited to help to transform the social media platform.
It was the first time Yaccarino has spoken publicly since the news broke Thursday that she was in talks to become the next CEO of Twitter.
Musk, who has served as CEO since his $44 billion buyout of Twitter last October, announced her appointment on Friday.
"I've long been inspired by [Musk's] vision to create a brighter future. I'm excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!" Yaccarino tweeted.
Yaccarino, who as advertising chief for Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal spent several years modernising its ad business, said she is committed to Twitter's future, and said user feedback is vital to build Twitter.
Revenue fall
Yaccarino will take over a social media platform that has been trying to reverse a plunge in ad revenue and is beset with challenges, along with a heavy debt load.
Since Musk acquired Twitter, advertisers have fled the platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of staff.
Elon Musk said Twitter's cash flow remains negative because of a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load.
"Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else," Musk said in a tweet early on Saturday.
After Musk acquired Twitter in October last year, the firm faced months of chaos, including layoffs of thousands of employees, criticism over lax content moderation, and an exodus of advertisers.
Advertising veteran
Musk's hiring of Linda Yaccarino, former ad chief at Comcast's NBCUniversal as CEO, signaled that ad sales remained a priority for Twitter even as it works to increase subscription revenue. Yaccarino started working at Twitter in early June.
Musk said Yaccarino would help build an "everything app," which he has previously said could offer a variety of services such as peer-to-peer payments.
However, his selection of an advertising veteran signaled that digital ads would continue to be a core focus of the business.
Musk, who is also the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc, on Friday said that bringing Yaccarino on as Twitter's new chief will help him devote more time to Tesla.
