The CEOs That Social Media Users Can't Stop Talking About

Big-name tech companies were all over the news last week, resulting in copious discussion of their CEOs on social media. Across Twitter and other social media platforms, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Yahoo's Marissa Mayer, Tesla's Elon Musk, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Apple's Tim Cook were the most talked-about of the 25 CEOs that social media intelligence company Synthesio tracks for Inc.. 

Here's why social media was so focused on these tech luminaries during the week of June 15 to June 21: 

Tim Cook

On Sunday, June 15, The New York Times ran a profile of Cook that included details about Apple's highly anticipated iWatch. Following the article's publication that day, the CEO received his greatest social media buzz of the week. Over the next few days, Cook's social mentions petered out, even despite news later in the week that production of the smartwatch will likely begin in July. 

Marissa Mayer 

The CEO of Yahoo took some heat on social media after her June 17 presentation at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Mayer's presentation was attacked online for resembling a "sales pitch." She was also insulted for her lack of stage presence and her use of "awkward props". 

Elon Musk

Of all the CEOs on this list, Musk had the greatest number of mentions in a single day--he was mentioned a total of 11,021 times on Wednesday, June 18, after an announcement that energy company SolarCity (of which he is the chairman and largest shareholder) is buying solar panel maker Silveo. 

Jeff Bezos

The unveiling of the much-anticipated Amazon Fire phone on Wednesday resulted in a boost in social media mentions for the Amazon CEO. 

Mark Zuckerberg

Last Thursday Facebook experienced a crash in several parts of the world. People on social media turned their focus on Zuckerberg, resulting in a massive spike in his mentions. Although the exact amount of time the social media network was down is unknown, service was returned within an hour.