'It's finally time for me to leave' - Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO and left the company.
The company’s Chief Technical Officer Parag Agrawal has been named as the new CEO.
Dorsey founded the company in 2006 and has been serving as CEO of both Twitter and financial payments company Square since 2015.
He faced calls to step down from his Twitter role last year, with some investors calling for a new CEO focused solely on the social media company.
not sure anyone has heard but,
I resigned from Twitter pic.twitter.com/G5tUkSSxkl
— jack⚡️ (@jack) November 29, 2021
In an email to staff this afternoon, Dorsey said Mr Agrawal would begin his role as CEO today.
He said he would continue to serve on the company board until the end of his current term next summer to help Mr Agrawal with the transition.
“After that, I’ll leave the board,” he said.
“Why not stay or become chair? I believe it’s really important to give Parag the space he needs to lead.
“I believe it’s critical a company can stand on its own – free of its founder’s influence or direction.”
The 45-year-old said he had made the decision of his own bat, adding. “I own it.”
“It was a tough one for me of course,” he said. “I love this service and company and all of you so much. I’m really sad yet really happy.
“There aren’t many companies that get to this level and there aren’t many founders that choose their company over their own ego.
“I know we’ll prove this was the right move.”
Deep gratitude for @jack and our entire team, and so much excitement for the future. Here’s the note I sent to the company. Thank you all for your trust and support 💙 https://t.co/eNatG1dqH6 pic.twitter.com/liJmTbpYs1
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) November 29, 2021
Twitter’s share price jumped slightly this morning as rumours of the news began to circulate and trading was temporarily halted as a result.
Mr Agrawal told staff the company’s ambitious new goals are “bold and right” – but warned that the critical challenge now is “how we work to execute it and deliver results.”
Dorsey remains CEO of Square which has a market capitalisation of over $98bn (€87bn) compared to Twitter's $38bn (€34bn).
