- Twitter's new CEO has a reputation for being influential at work, former coworkers told Fortune.
- So much so that some staffers copied her fashion sense and attitude.
Twitter's newest CEO Linda Yaccarino is so influential in the workplace that her fashion choices and mannerisms are adopted by the most loyal staffers around her, Fortune reported Sunday.
Yaccarino, formerly chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships at NBCUniversal, has been selected by Elon Musk to be the next CEO of Twitter.
In conversations with Fortune, seven unnamed sources that have worked with Yaccarino in the past painted a picture of a powerhouse "that can both inspire and terrify the people who work for her," Fortune wrote.
One unnamed source said that she is so influential that some employees around her adopt her fashion style and mannerisms. She is known for her signature look of thick-framed glasses, heels, and often colorful suits, per Fortune.
These sources described her as "tough" in the workplace. "She stood up to a lot of misogyny. She stood up to a lot of men," one unnamed source told Fortune. "There's nothing demure about her."
In April, Yaccarino appeared on stage at a Miami Conference to interview Musk about his plans for the new era of Twitter.
Her ability to ask Musk hard questions, and quiz him about his sometimes controversial tweets, meant that some insiders speculated as to whether this was her interview for the CEO gig at Twitter. "There was chemistry there," Lou Paskalis, CEO of marketing consultancy firm AJL Advisory, told Fortune. Paskalis has worked with Yaccarino for more than three decades.
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October and is said to have spooked some advertisers with his unconventional and chaotic leadership style. The company lost half of its top 100 advertisers including Ford, Chipotle, and Chevrolet within one month after Musk became CEO.
Musk previously said that he expected his stint as Twitter's CEO to be temporary and would resign once he found a replacement.