July 9 (Reuters) - Elon Musk-owned social platform X's

CEO Linda Yaccarino said on Wednesday she would step down from

the role in a surprise move.

Her exit comes at a difficult time for Musk, who is dealing

with falling sales at his EV maker Tesla and is embroiled in a

war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Yaccarino did not give a specific reason for her decision.

X and Yaccarino did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

She took the top job in 2023 to help Musk transform the

company after he bought it in a $44 billion deal.

Prior to becoming the CEO of X, Yaccarino spent several

years modernizing the ad business of Comcast's NBCUniversal.

The social media platform is dealing with a heavy debt load,

and Yaccarino has had to often deal with controversies stirred

up by Musk, including his endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy

theories in late 2023.

The company later sued numerous advertisers and an

advertising group, alleging they colluded to deny X ad dollars.

In March, Musk's AI startup xAI acquired the social media

platform in a $33 billion all-stock deal.

Its chatbot Grok removed what it called "inappropriate"

social media posts on Tuesday after complaints from X users and

the Anti-Defamation League that Grok produced content with

antisemitic tropes.