Linda Yaccarino is just the latest of at least 15 senior leaders who have departed Elon Musk’s business empire in the past year
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Omead Afshar, Milan Kovac, and Dave Heinzinger have all recently stepped away from Musk-owned companies.
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July 9, 2025
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Leadership·Elon MuskLinda Yaccarino is just the of at least 15 senior leaders who have departed Elon Musk’s empire in the past yearBY Lila MacLellanBY Lila MacLellanSenior WriterLila MacLellanSenior WriterLila MacLellan is a senior writer at Fortune, where she covers topics in leadership
SEE FULL BIO Linda Yaccarino, then-CEO of X, at the Viva conference in Paris, May 24, 2024
Benjamin Girette—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesLinda Yaccarino is no longer the CEO of social media platform X, only the top Elon Musk lieutenant to part ways with his empire as his personal and fessional s become increasingly chaotic. “After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏,” Yaccarino wrote on X Wednesday. “When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company
I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of tecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App. ” Yaccarino joined X in June of 2023, and was at the company for two years
She joined X after decades in the media and advertising industry, with long stints at NBC and Turner Broadcasting System
Former colleagues previously told Fortune that she stood out as a gritty executive who was adept at managing difficult clients and “stood up to a lot of misogyny. ” It’s not why Yaccarino is departing X, although the social media platform has certainly had its of troubles since Musk took over
Many users have left the platform since Musk took over in 2022, and competitors Bluesky have become more over the past year
Just this week, a chatbot released by Elon Musk’s AI company called Grok d anti-Semitic posts on X
The chatbot’s account on X later posted: “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappriate posts. ” Yaccarino, however, is only the high-file Musk lieutenant to step away from his empire over the past several months, which have been particularly volatile
These are the other Musk lieutenants who have recently parted ways with the mogul
Omead Afshar, former head of sales in North America and Europe at TeslaDeparture: June 2025A former top aide to Musk, Afshar left Tesla last month
He ran sales and operations in North America and Europe, but was also seen as a xy for Musk when he was away from the company, according to the Wall Street Journal
Jenna Ferrua, former director of HR at TeslaDeparture: June 2025Ferrua reportedly left Tesla last month after spending seven years at the carmaker
Her LinkedIn file does not reflect any change in her employment
Milan Kovac, ex-head of the Optimus humanoid robot team at Tesla Departure: June 2025Kovac was “the brains behind CEO Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar dream of a robot future,” Fortune wrote when the executive announced he was leaving Tesla last month
Kovac, who worked at Tesla for nine years, said he was going to spend time with his family
Vineet Mehta, former head of battery architecture at TeslaDeparture: May 2025The former 18-year Tesla veteran recently left the company of his own accord, he wrote on LinkedIn, though his departure came as a surprise to many
Mark Westfall, former head of mechanical engineering at Tesla EnergyDeparture: April 2025Westfall spent a decade at Tesla before leaving three months ago. “It’s hard to put into words what Tesla has meant to me—I never imagined the places this job would take me, or the impact I would be able to have,” he wrote in his departure post on LinkedIn
He’s now the director of engineering at Redwood Materials
Brett Weitz, former global head of content, talent, and brand sales at XDeparture: June 2025Weitz called his time at X “one hell of a ride” when he acknowledged his departure on LinkedIn last month
The veteran media executive had previously worked at WarnerMedia and Turner before joining X in 2023
Deadline reported that Weitz had spearheaded X’s Originals documentary-style series and launched, including Khloé Kardashian’s Khloé in Wonder Land
David Lau, former vice president of software engineering at TeslaDeparture: April 2025Lau’s reported departure earlier this year was described as “abrupt. ” He had worked at the EV maker for 12 years
Lau has been credited with changing the way software was managed inside cars after he pioneered a superior experience for the user at Tesla
Dave Heinzinger, former head of media strategy at X Departure: March 2025Heinzinger’s term at X could be measured in “Scaramuccis. ” The ex-head of media strategy lasted four months in the role before resigning for personal reasons in March
In an interview with Axios, he praised Yaccarino’s knack for recruiting top talent on his way out the door. “I can say that Linda is building one of the most impressive teams in the world
The influx of talent has been incredible, and the platform is stronger, more innovative, and more consequential than ever,” he said
He’s now the president of Haymaker Group, a PR firm in New York where he had worked for six years before jumping to X
Haofei Wang, former head of duct engineering at XDeparture: March 2025Wang, who joined Twitter in July 2021, left X in March for unknown reasons, according to The Verge. (Wang’s LinkedIn file still states that he is an employee at X. ) others on this list, Wang worked closely with Musk, and reportedly acted as buffer and communication conduit between Musk and the engineering department
Before joining the social media site, he was vice president of engineering at the er Tubi
Tom Ochinero, former vice president of commercial at SpaceX Departure: February 2024A former VP at Musk’s space company, Ochinero is one of very few high-level executives to leave SpaceX
He’s now the chair and founding partner of an early-stage investment group
Nick Pickles, former vice president of global affairs at XDeparture: September 2024Pickles, a top spokesperson for X, left the company last September after a decade working in public policy roles at Twitter and X. “The constant across my time at Twitter and X has been the amazing people I’ve worked with inside and outside the company,” he wrote on X the day he stepped down
He’s now the chief policy officer of Tools for Humanity, according to his LinkedIn
Renato Leite Monteiro, former global data tection officer at XDeparture: September 2024Monteiro was among the holdovers from X’s Twitter years who stayed at the social media site after Musk took over
The former fessor of law and data privacy was hired by Twitter in 2020, and initially worked for the company in Brazil before relocating to Ireland
He quit last September to take some “personal time off,” he wrote on LinkedIn
Five months ago, he became the vice president for legal assurance at e&, a nology and investment group in Abu Dhabi
David Zhang, former roadster and next-generation vehicle gram manager at TeslaDeparture: July 2024Zhang, the manager behind Tesla’s Model S and Cybertruck, joined Tesla in 2015
He left in July 2024, and acknowledged his departure on LinkedIn months later, writing, “Thank you and (belated) farewell, Tesla
It has been a privilege and an honor to have devoted myself to the mission. ” Joe Benarroch, former head of operations at XDeparture: June 2024Considered Yaccarino’s top lieutenant, Benarroch resigned from the social media site in early June of 2024, after spending one year and one month at the company
The executive’s LinkedIn file states that Yaccarino recruited Benarroch from NBCUniversal
At X, he was put in charge of restructuring the organization ing mass layoffs
Benarroch also handled corporate communications for X
Benarroch is now the head of content, media partnerships, and distribution at the NYSE
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