Jack Dorsey Resigns as Twitter (TWTR) CEO

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Published November 29, 2021

Veteran entrepreneur and co-founder of Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) Jack Dorsey resigned as CEO of Twitter today. He is succeeded by the company's chief technology officer (CTO) Parag Agrawal. Dorsey will continue to be on Twitter's board until the expiry of his term in 2022.

Key Takeaways

  • Twitter's CTO Parag Agrawal is replacing co-founder Jack Dorsey as CEO.
  • The stock jumped 11% in early trading on the news.
  • Dorsey's exit leaves Agrawal in charge of meeting the company's ambitious goals for 2023.

After co-founding Twitter in July 2006 with Evan Williams, Dorsey became its CEO in 2007. During his first term as CEO, Twitter's user base increased dramatically. In April 2007, Twitter's holding company, Obvious Corporation, spun off Twitter with Dorsey as CEO. Twitter received a $5 million round of Series A funding the same year.

After the second funding round, Dorsey was ousted in 2008 as Twitter's service crashed frequently, and Williams and another board member, Fred Wilson, found Dorsey unfit to lead the company. However, soon after Williams' exit in 2011, Dorsey rejoined Twitter as its executive chairman. Dorsey had co-founded Square, Inc. (SQ) by then, and upon his return to Twitter, he began to run both companies.

In the same year, Williams was replaced by Dick Costolo, who was Twitter's chief operating officer (COO) until then. During Twitter's IPO in 2013, the company was valued at $31 billion. Its first earnings conference showed that the company had suffered a net loss of $511 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Dorsey returned as CEO in 2015 when he replaced Costolo after the lackluster post-IPO performance of the stock due to the slow growth of the company. But he was nearly ousted again in 2020 prior to a $2 billion investment deal between Twitter and investment firms Elliot Management and Silver Lake due to speculation whether he could run two public companies simultaneously. According to sources, Elliot Management's founder Paul Singer tried to replace Dorsey. Elliot Management and Silver Lake got one seat each on the board, and Dorsey continued as CEO after the deal.

Dorsey's successor Parag Agrawal will guide the company to help meet its ambitious goal of doubling annual revenue by the end of 2023 and increasing its monetizable daily active users to 315 million.

Whether this is Dorsey's final exit from Twitter remains uncertain in view of the fact that he has succeeded in returning and serving several terms at Twitter. Twitter's stock jumped nearly 11% in early trading after the news. However, the price has come down since then.

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  1. Cision. "Jack Dorsey Steps Down as Twitter CEO. Board Unanimously Appoints CTO Parag Agarwal as Successor."

  2. TheVerge. "To Twitter CEO and Back Again: A Timeline of Jack Dorsey's Rise."

  3. CNBC. "Elliot Management's Paul Singer Seeks to Replace Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey."

  4. CNBC. "Twitter CEO Dorsey Keeps His Job After Company Strikes Investment Deal with Eliot Management, Silver Lake."

  5. CNBC. "Twitter Shares Soar After Company Announces Plans to Double Revenue by 2023."

  6. Yahoo Finance. "Twitter."

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