John Nitti has indeed left as the advertising head honcho at X. His time in that role came to an abrupt end after just ten months. In July, Nitti came on board as MediaMath’s global head of revenue operations and advertising innovation. Today, he’s out amid escalating frustration from execs over Elon Musk’s unpredictable management style and erratic strategic direction.
While at X, Nitti was considered a leading candidate to succeed former CEO Linda Yaccarino. This role brought his centrality to the organization into sharp focus. His departure deepens an alarming trend of high-level departures from Musk’s growing ex-executive team. In light of this troubling pattern, we must question the security of X’s leadership.
Prior to his time at X, Nitti spent almost nine years at Verizon. There, he helped lay the foundation for their progressive advertising strategies. Prior to coming to Verizon, he had a long career with American Express. It was this experience that profoundly developed his expertise, which he now brings to his role at X.
Nitti’s resignation follows a growing backlash against Musk’s frequent and arbitrary changes of direction. According to Recode, decision-making processes have gotten more and more unilateral under Musk, with him frequently ignoring discussions with Nitti’s ad team. The controversial decision to ban hashtags from advertising was made without consulting the team. This decision in turn exacerbated growing frustrations among the staff.
Due to these dynamics, and likely more that we don’t yet know, Nitti found it harder to make his vision for advertising at X totally come to life. According to unnamed sources, his resignation is an indication of a growing frustration among the company’s top leaders over the direction of the company under Musk’s leadership.
