Linda Yaccarino briefly loses verified X checkmark after stepping down as CEO

Linda Yaccarino, the recent CEO of X, experienced a brief loss of her verified blue checkmark on the social media platform after announcing her resignation. The X Help Center states that the verification checkmark can be removed at any time without prior notice, and it vanished shortly after she stepped down on Wednesday. However, by Thursday evening, the blue checkmark had reappeared next to her handle, @lindayaX. Despite this situation, Yaccarino has remained active on the platform, sharing posts that include her excitement about the return of McDonald's Snack Wrap and even reacting with a thinking face emoji to news concerning a Justice Department review of Jeffrey Epstein's records. Yaccarino's departure from X came just a day after a controversial posting spree by Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which included antisemitic comments and praise for Adolf Hitler. These posts were promptly removed, and an update, Grok 4, was subsequently launched. Elon Musk, the owner of X and its parent company xAI, expressed gratitude to Yaccarino following her announcement. Yaccarino had taken on the CEO role in May 2023, shortly after Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion. Prior to her tenure at X, she held a significant role at NBCUniversal, which is the parent company of CNBC.