Elon Musk’s X Loses One of CEO Linda Yaccarino’s Most Trusted Lieutenants

Elon Musk’s social media platform X is losing one of its longest-running employees. Nick Pickles, the current vice president of global affairs at the company, announced his resignation yesterday (Sept. 5) in a post on the platform. “After more than ten years, tomorrow will be my last day at X,” said Pickles, who did not provide a reason for his departure. X did not respond to requests for comment from Observer.

Pickles was one of the few employees of X, previously known as Twitter, to have survived Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the company in 2022 and was a trusted member of X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s inner circle. The British executive said he was grateful for Yaccarino’s support and partnership, noting that he made the decision to leave X several months ago and is “looking forward to taking some time off before a new challenge.”

Pickles became a prominent figure throughout X’s numerous clashes with international governments. Censorship battles between X and countries like Brazil, India and Australia have proliferated since Musk’s acquisition and a loosening of content restrictions on the platform. “It’s vital that democratic governments don’t unwittingly endorse or adopt the policies of governments who do not want to protect the open, global internet,” said Pickles of government attempts to remove content from the site in a May interview with the Financial Times. “We risk a race to the bottom, with ever more aggressive sanctions being used to try and control the global internet without respect for global norms and free expression,” he added.

Such issues notably came to a head in Brazil following disagreements between Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The nation’s Supreme Court blocked access to the site in Brazil last week after Musk refused to comply with court orders regarding the suspension of certain X accounts allegedly spreading disinformation.

Who is Nick Pickles?

Pickles, 40, began his career at Twitter in 2014 when he joined the platform as a senior public policy manager in its London office. The executive has since worked his way up through the company, serving in roles such as global senior strategist and senior director of global public strategy before becoming vice president of global affairs last summer, according to his LinkedIn profile. Pickle’s responsibilities were expanded to include global communications after the recent departure of Joe Benarroch, another top X executive who headed the site’s business operations and communications and was fired by Yaccarino in June.

Before pursuing a career in social media, Pickles headed Big Brother Watch, a U.K. organization campaigning against state surveillance. He also had a brief stint in 2010 running as a conservative parliamentary candidate in the U.K. and has previously worked as a freelance music photographer.

“The constant across my time at Twitter and X has been the amazing people I’ve worked with inside and outside the company,” said Pickles. “It’s been a privilege to lead the [global affairs] team, and I leave with more memories and lifelong friendships than I ever expected when I first walked into the London office back in 2014.”