Elon Musk’s X Head Of Global Affairs Resigns

Tom Jowitt,
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X’s global affairs head, Nick Pickles, confirms departure after a decade working at the platform previously known as Twitter

Elon Musk’s X (formerly known as Twitter) has lost another senior executive who has played a notable role at the platform.

X’s global affairs head Nick Pickles in a tweet on Thursday announced “after more than ten years, tomorrow will be my last day at X. It’s been an incredible journey.”

There was no immediate reason given for the Pickles resignation, but it comes after X’s head of business operations, Joe Benarroch, had left the company in June 2024. It should be noted that Benarroch, a former NBCUniversal executive, had only joined X in June 2023.

Nick Pickles

In his resignation tweet on Thursday, Nick Pickles explained he had “made the decision to leave several months ago”, but was working with CEO Linda Yaccarino through the transition.

Pickles did not provide any hint to his future plans.

Notably, Yaccarino did not appear to publicly acknowledge or even thank Nick Pickles for his decade of service at Twitter.

Pickles had joined Twitter (as it was then) in 2014 in the London office, but was to play a prominent role at the platform in the following years.

In January 2021 for example Pickles appeared before British MPs and was questioned over Twitter’s policy on hate content and the role of social media platforms.

That came soon after supporters of then President Donald Trump had stormed into the Capitol building on Wednesday 6 January 2021 in an attempted insurrection, which left five people dead, including a police officer, with hundreds more injured.

Musk’s chaotic tenure

Pickles remained at Twitter in the chaos and turmoil of Elon Musk’s controversial takeover, which saw Musk dissolve its board of directors and fire senior management, which in turn prompted a mass exodus of executives.

In the mass culling of executives, Dublin-based Sinead McSweeney, global vice president for public policy (responsible for interacting with lawmakers and civil society on issues including free speech, privacy and online safety) had left the firm, with Nick Pickles taking over McSweeney’s role.

Pickles, who had been a senior director for global public policy strategy, was appointed the Vice President of Global Affairs for X in 2023.

According to the Financial Times, Pickles was the company’s spokesperson in battles with multiple governments, including in Brazil, which last week suspended access to the social network in the country amid a row with Elon Musk.