Jack Dorsey Leaves Twitter CEO Role

Adriana Lee
·3 min read
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Following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Jack Dorsey apparently has one more thing to be thankful about — more free time. Twitter’s chief executive officer is leaving the company he cofounded, the company announced Monday, with current chief technology officer Parag Agrawal assuming the CEO position. The transition takes effect immediately.

Dorsey’s stated reason hardly sheds light on Monday’s surprise announcement: “I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” he said in prepared remarks. As for the other tech company he cofounded, digital payments company Square, Dorsey will remain CEO and chairman.

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This isn’t the first time the legendary tech founder and business executive was separated from the Twitter helm. He was replaced as CEO in 2008 by Evan Williams, then reinstalled following Dick Costolo’s departure in 2015, in an interim position that became permanent.

Dorsey was nearly unseated again in 2020, when Elliott Management, one of Twitter’s biggest investors, aimed to eject him. Elliott Management founder Paul Singer took issue with the CEO’s dual leadership of Twitter and Square, but struck a deal that left Dorsey in place.

Elliott now seems pleased with the turn of events. In a statement released on Monday, managing partner Jesse Cohn and senior portfolio manager Marc Steinberg said the company “is now executing against an ambitious multiyear plan to dramatically increase the company’s reach and value, and we look forward to the next chapter of Twitter’s story.”

Dorsey isn’t entirely separated from the company yet, though that is the plan: He remains, for now, a member of the board, but the term expires at next year’s stockholders meeting. At that point, Bret Taylor, Salesforce president and chief operating officer, will succeed Patrick Pichette, a former Google executive, as chairman of the board.

Elliott believes that Taylor and Agrawal “are the right leaders for Twitter at this pivotal moment for the company.”

Indeed, in early stages of Dorsey’s Twitter leadership, the cofounder was known for prioritizing uptime over profits and not focusing on generating revenue. The business has evolved, with earnings of $1.28 billion and 211 million daily users in the third quarter of 2021, and even launched a paid premium tier in June, though these are modest by today’s social media standards. Twitter’s income trajectory is still largely considered nascent — which is notable during a time when social media and social commerce momentum seems to be at peak froth.

Revenue and user growth will be top priorities for Agrawal now. He goes from CTO in charge of artificial intelligence and machine learning strategy to CEO responsible for achieving the company’s key goals: 315 million monetizable daily active users and doubled annual revenue in two years.

Agrawal also seems to have Dorsey’s backing. In a message tweeted out by the former CEO, he said he has seen his successor as the right choice “for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs.” As for why Dorsey suddenly chose this moment, that remains — for now — a mystery.

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