In a latest wave of executive departures from Elon Musk’s businesses, X Corp’s advertising chief John Nitti has left the social media platform after just 10 months in the role.
The Financial Times reports that X Corp, the Musk company that owns the social media platform X, has seen yet another high-profile executive departure as its global head of revenue operations and advertising innovation, John Nitti, left the company on Friday. Nitti’s exit marks the latest in a series of resignations from the upper echelons of Elon Musk’s businesses, reflecting the ongoing challenges faced by the billionaire entrepreneur.
Nitti, who joined X Corp in January, was considered a potential successor to former CEO Linda Yaccarino, who resigned in July after two years at the helm. Following Yaccarino’s departure, her responsibilities were divided among several leaders, including Nitti and Angela Zepeda, the global head of marketing. Industry insiders had viewed Nitti as a contender for the CEO position.
Breitbart News previously reported that the exodus of senior executives extends beyond X Corp, with Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up xAI also experiencing significant turnover. Mike Liberatore, who served as xAI’s chief financial officer, resigned after just three months in the role, followed by the departure of general counsel Robert Keele. In early October, X Corp’s chief financial officer Mahmoud Reza Banki also announced his decision to leave after less than a year in the position.
Insiders attribute the high rate of executive churn to frustration with Musk’s abrupt changes in strategy and the difficulty in executing their own objectives due to the billionaire’s hands-on approach. Advertising leaders at X Corp have been under immense pressure from Musk to increase revenues, as he invests billions of dollars in infrastructure and chips to compete with AI giants like OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind.
Sources familiar with the matter reveal that Nitti, a former Verizon executive, had grown frustrated with Musk’s approach to the advertising business. Musk’s distraction during his time in Donald Trump’s administration, which ended over the summer following a falling out with the US president, had led to him making unilateral decisions regarding advertising without consulting the advertising leadership. This included banning hashtags from advertising on X Corp, a move that frustrated some advertisers.
In an effort to address the leadership vacuum, xAI and X Corp have recently made new appointments. Earlier this month, Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley banker who advised on Musk’s $44 billion takeover of X Corp, was named xAI’s new CFO.
Read more at the Financial Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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