Advertising sales executive Yaccarino worked at
Turner Entertainment for 15 years, becoming executive vice president and
chief operating officer. She is credited with modernizing the company's ad sales strategies. At Turner, she negotiated ad deals on the reboot of
Conan O'Brien's late night comedy show. hired by then-CEO
Steve Burke. When Burke began planning stepping down as CEO, Yaccarino had made a bid to be his successor, but she was not picked. Yaccarino joined the
Ad Council in 2014. Yaccarino assumed the position of chair of the Ad Council's board of directors in January 2021, for a term that ran until June 30, 2022. As chair, Yaccarino partnered with the
Biden administration in 2021 to create a
COVID-19 vaccination campaign that featured
Pope Francis. In 2018, President
Donald Trump appointed her to the
President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. While at NBCUniversal, advertising discussions with
Netflix led to Netflix suggesting she take a job running its ad sales, but it did not go far and inspired her to take a career change, according to two of her former colleagues. and she had been a part of the company's "Influence Council", which had advertisers advise the company on brand deals. Yaccarino had been preparing for an
upfronts presentation, and hadn't informed any colleagues of her departure. Upon her appointment, the
Financial Times noted that Yaccarino's previous work with the
World Economic Forum (WEF) had earned backlash from some "more conspiracy-minded Musk fans" who distrusted international political organizations. Musk, a harsh critic of the WEF, stated that Yaccarino's links to the organization would not harm his self-proclaimed commitment to free speech on Twitter. Upon her appointment, experts were concerned Yaccarino's role would be an example of the
glass cliff. Yaccarino has said the implication that she had not earned her role saddened her, stating "I literally went to the business world not even knowing being a woman was a thing." Yaccarino was ranked 58th on
Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023, noting that she had the connections needed to repair X's relationships, but questioned if Musk still "pulled the strings."
Fortune also listed Yaccarino as one of the CEOs who struggled the most in 2023, writing that she "seems either unable or unwilling to restrain her boss from his worst impulses while failing to reassure advertisers that all is under control." In June 2024, the
Financial Times reported "growing tensions between Musk and Yaccarino", as Musk "pile[s] pressure on her to raise revenues and lower her expenses". On July 9, 2025, Yaccarino announced her resignation from X Corp.. She did not give a reason for her departure. One day before, X's
generative AI chatbot
Grok received a hastily removed update which saw the chatbot used to make racist and antisemitic statements – including praising
Adolf Hitler and endorsing a second
Holocaust – as well as
sexually violent fantasies about various people, including Yaccarino herself.
Advertising suspensions and related lawsuits Under Musk's and Yaccarino's leadership,
hate speech has increased on the platform, which has caused companies to suspend advertising. The
Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) privately warned Yaccarino in June 2023 about rising hate speech and the financing of hateful people. Yaccarino attributed the pause in advertising to a
Media Matters for America report that claimed ads on X from major corporations had appeared next to
white nationalist and
Nazi content, rather than to Musk's comments; in a company-wide email, Yaccarino said the article was "misleading and manipulated." Amid the controversy, Yaccarino was privately urged to resign by a number of advertising executives, including friends. Yaccarino publicly supported X's lawsuit against Media Matters, posting on X, "You know I'm committed to truth and fairness. Here's the truth. Not a single authentic user on X saw
IBM's, Comcast's, or
Oracle's ads next to the content in Media Matters' article." At a company meeting, when asked what she would like the outcome of the lawsuit to be, Yaccarino replied, "the validation that Media Matters, unfortunately, manipulates, in this case, not just advertisers, but people in general." In August 2024, Yaccarino announced that X had filed an antitrust lawsuit against the
Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), founded in 2019, with the stated aim to ensure that advertisers' brands weren't "associated with harmful content," for orchestrating an 'illegal' advertisement boycott against X. Days after the lawsuit was filed, GARM announced it discontinued its activities because the lawsuit has "significantly drained its resources and finances."
Children's online safety In November 2023, Yaccarino was subpoenaed by a U.S. Senate panel to testify at a hearing on children's online safety. At the hearing, Yaccarino endorsed Senator
Dick Durbin's STOP CSAM Act, a bill to allow victims of child sexual abuse material to sue tech platforms for facilitation.
eMed In August 2025, Yaccarino was appointed CEO of Miami-based telehealth company, eMed. ==Personal life==