Jack Dorsey, co-founder and until today CEO of Twitter, has announced that he is leaving his position on the platform through a statement on his own account. After raising certain rumors by a CNBC publication, the businessman has confirmed the suspicions and has even revealed his replacement.
Effective immediately, Parag Agrawal, who has held the position of CTO at the company since 2017 and has been in the ranks of Twitter for a decade, will take over as CEO . “I’m not sure anyone has found out, but I have resigned from Twitter,” tweeted the platform’s CEO up to now with a certain humor, a message that he accompanied with a somewhat longer statement.
“After almost 16 years exercising some kind of role in the company […] I have decided that it is time for me to leave .” Dorsey begins by saying that he will remain on the Twitter board until his term expires next year around May, at which point Bret Taylor, a member since 2016, will take over as chairman of this governing body.
“Having Bret in this leadership role gives me a lot of confidence in the strength of our board going forward,” said Dorsey.
The tycoon hides behind Twitter’s need for freedom: “There is a lot of talk about the importance of a company being ‘run by a founder’. Ultimately, I think that’s very limiting and a fundamental point of failure. I’ve worked hard to make sure this company can separate from its foundation and its founders . “
” [Parag] has been my choice for some time, given the depth with which he understands the company and its needs . He has been behind all the critical decisions that helped change this company. He is curious, inquisitive, rational, creative, demanding , self-aware and humble. He leads with heart and soul, and is someone I learn from daily. My trust in him as our CEO runs deep, “Dorsey says in the statement.
Agrawal has also responded to such affectionate words: ” I want to thank the Board for their trust in my leadership and Jack for his continued mentorship, support and partnership . I look forward to building on all that we have accomplished under Jack’s leadership and I come with much energy to face the opportunities that lie ahead. “
A conflict between two giants
Dorsey’s resignation comes six years after the businessman returned to the role of chief executive officer to “help turn the business around.” The co-founder of Twitter has not fared badly during this time: the social network not only achieved profitability, but also reached its first quarter of a billion dollars. Also, at this stage the platform has focused on testing and launching a wide range of functions to attract users.
However, the businessman had already faced problems in his role at the helm of Twitter: Dorsey’s critics have long been skeptical about his dual role as CEO of the social network and at the same time of the payment processing firm Square , claiming that it cannot effectively manage both multi-billion dollar companies.
More directly, Twitter shareholder Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management, publicly questioned last year his ability to run these two companies at the same time.
Dorsey has finally relented and is leaving Twitter, although he will remain the CEO of Square , which currently has a market capitalization of more than $ 98 billion compared to Twitter’s 38 billion.
Shortly after the 45-year-old businessman publicly confirmed that he is resigning from his position as CEO of Twitter, shares on the platform have risen 10% .
