- Polymarket users are split as to who will take over as CEO of X. A very thin majority of users believe no one will be named to the post, while nearly as many are banking on CFO Mahmoud Reza Banki. Linda Yaccarino, in a post Wednesday morning, announced she would be stepping down from her leadership role.
Elon Musk hasn’t said who will replace Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X following her announcement Wednesday that she is stepping away from the job on Wednesday. But that’s not stopping the prediction markets from making a guess.
Polymarket is letting people wager on who will be the new head of the social media hub—and so far, the race is a virtual tie.
Leading the votes, as of Thursday morning, with a predicted 22% chance of being the pick was…no one. Users bet that no succeeding CEO would be announced this year. Right behind the empty chair was Mahmoud Reza Banki, with 21%. X brought Banki on as chief financial officer last November. (Banki formerly served as CFO of Tubi and was pardoned by Trump in a case connected to 2010 charges for making false statements.)
Not too far behind them is Elon Musk himself, with a 15% chance, according to Polymarket bettors. And Nikita Bier, who joined X as head of product just over a week ago, was behind Musk with an 8% chance.
From there, the list becomes rather absurd, with candidates ranging from Grok, the Musk-overseen AI that went on an anti-Semitic tirade earlier this month, to social media star MrBeast to original Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey.
Yaccarino, in a post Wednesday morning, announced she would be stepping down from her leadership role. “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 protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App,” she wrote.
Musk, replying to Yaccarino’s post, succinctly wrote, “Thank you for your contributions.”
Yaccarino’s departure was reportedly in the works for weeks.