Yaccarino Stepping Down as CEO of Musk’s X After Two Years | Bloomberg Intelligence

Linda Yaccarino’s departure as CEO of X after two years set the tone for a discussion about Elon Musk’s management style and the continuing strain inside his businesses. The host and Ed Ludlow said the move was surprising but also part of a broader pattern of high-profile exits across Tesla, SpaceX and X, with Ludlow arguing that X’s future is increasingly tied to XAI and Musk’s shifting priorities. He also said the turnaround story at X is debatable because revenues fell in 2024, advertisers have been hard to win back, and the platform remains vulnerable to Musk’s behavior and decisions.

The next segment focused on Goldman Sachs asking junior bankers to certify every three months that they have not already accepted private equity offers. Sally Bakewell said the bank is pushing back on “on cycle recruitment,” a practice that lets PE firms lock up analysts before they even start. She said JPMorgan has taken the hardest line so far, and some firms, including Apollo and General Atlantic, have pulled back. The argument was that banks are trying to protect young employees from conflicts and restore a more normal training pipeline, though the practice may persist if labor-market competition stays intense.

Tim Craighead then previewed Bloomberg Intelligence’s list of 10 companies to watch in Q3, emphasizing that the picks are based on catalyst-driven, anti-consensus ideas. His calls leaned toward cautious views on Aston Martin and optimistic views on Diageo, Dick’s Sporting Goods and EasyJet, with currency moves and stronger non-U.S. markets also part of the backdrop. Jennifer Rie closed with a look at Trump-era antitrust policy, saying the FTC and DOJ are more willing to settle deals with remedies, which could help more large transactions get done in the second half of the year.