Stocks soared on the announcement that CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey is stepping down following a long history of internal and external controversy and will be replaced by chief technology officer Parag Agrawal.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey resigns
After sixteen years at the helm of Twitter, co-founder, and CEO Jack Dorsey, 45, cofounder of Twitter, announced his resignation from the company, writing in a tweet: “Not sure anyone has heard but, I resigned from Twitter.”
The board unanimously appointed Agrawal as the new CEO, effective immediately, the New York Post reported. Dorsey reportedly applauded the decision, saying Agrawal had been his chosen successor “for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs.”
Dorsey will serve on board until 2022
Dorsey will continue to serve on Twitter’s board of directors through his current term, which runs through 2022, then will step aside as chairman, which current board member Brett Taylor will assume.
According to the Daily Mail, Dorsey told staff that once his term on the board ends in 2022, he will leave the company entirely.
The announcement comes after internal struggles, string of controversies
The resignation by Dorsey comes after his major breakup in 2020 with Elliott Management, a hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer which has a substantial but undisclosed stake in Twitter. According to the Daily Mail, the falling out resulted in the hedge fund seeking to replace Dorsey as CEO. The hedge fund was unsuccessful in unseating Dorsey. However, they were able to force the company to make multiple changes to its corporate structure.
Dorsey was previously removed from his leadership position in 2008 for reportedly repeatedly leaving work early for personal pursuits such as yoga and fashion design.
In addition, Dorsey was criticized for choosing improvements to the platform over actions to increase revenue, which has grown sluggishly under his tenure as CEO, according to the New York Times.
Dorsey criticized for juggling two companies
In addition to his role of heading up Twitter, Dorsey also serves as CEO of Square Inc. This digital payments company first provided “square-shaped” card readers that allow clients to accept credit card payments directly through their smartphone and now makes numerous devices and terminals. Square had reported revenue of $9.49 billion as of 2020.
Dorsey has been long criticized for trying to simultaneously juggle the CEO roles of two billion-dollar companies, charging he can’t effectively run both.
Twitter stock initially soars on Dorsey resignation announcement
According to the Daily Mail, reports of Dorsey’s resignation initially sent Twitter’s stock soaring by 11 percent.
Twitter is one of the world’s largest social media sites for doing “micro-blogging” by writing character-limited “tweets.” The platform is highly used by celebrities and politicians worldwide. Dorsey founded the company with three others in 2006, and its total assets were valued at $13.37 billion in 2020.
Twitter and censorship
Dorsey has also been accused of bias and apparent censorship of conservative voices.
“Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all,” Dorsey wrote in a January 13, 2021 tweet.
One of the most controversial was an announcement by Twitter that it was permanently suspending former president Donald Trump saying his account presented “the risk of further incitement of violence.”
“Having to take these actions fragment the public conversation,” Dorsey wrote in a series of January 2021 tweets. “They divide us. They limit the potential for clarification, redemption, and learning. And sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation.”
