Former X CEO Reveals Musk's Success Formula: An "Unrelenting Sense of Urgency"

This week, Elon Musk's net worth once again crossed the trillion-dollar mark; and among the various forces behind his success, few people have had as close-up a view and understanding as his former deputy, Linda Yaccarino.

The veteran media executive with 30 years of industry experience took over as CEO of the social platform then known as Twitter in 2023, just as Musk was embarking on a radical overhaul of the platform.

She was able to experience and witness firsthand the core philosophy embraced by Musk's companies — from Tesla Motors (TSLA) to SpaceX: move fast, completely restructure everything, and never wait until tomorrow.

In a recent interview, Yaccarino said: "The reason his companies deliver unique results is that unrelenting sense of urgency. There is no such thing as a 'deadline' for delivering a project or product — everything must be done 'now.'"

She said this mindset changes the way people approach almost any challenge. It forces you to stop working merely to meet a deadline, and instead break a project down to its most essential elements, clarifying exactly what must be done in order to succeed.

"A lot of people talk about 'first principles,' and this is exactly what it forces you to practice," Yaccarino added.

She recognized this almost immediately. When she took office, Twitter was in the midst of a fresh wave of turmoil, including the scrapping of its iconic blue bird logo and its eventual transformation into "X" — all accomplished with only a fraction of the staff the company had before Musk took over.

Misinformation, hate speech, and bot accounts also drew growing concern, problems that continued to plague X even after she left in 2025.

Yet for Yaccarino, this turbulence was precisely part of the appeal. Despite the challenges of running X and working for Musk, she believes the hardest moments in a career often ultimately turn out to be "like a gift."

She encourages people to proactively take on difficult challenges. Otherwise, she says, a career can become "somewhat dull" — and her own career (thanks in part to Musk) has been anything but that.

"Comfort often means complacency — which won't let you achieve anything extraordinary in your career or life," Yaccarino said. "So embrace the challenges that make you uncomfortable."