Jack Dorsey to Step Down as CEO of Twitter

According to reports, Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) chief executive officer and co-founder Jack Dorsey will step down from his executive role at the social media company. The news of this development sent the company’s share price surging by 12.5% in the pre-market trading. However, as the market opened, the stock is not showing any significant changes. The spike has now undone losses of approximately 14% that Twitter has incurred so far this year.

It is expected that Parag Agrawal, Twitter CTO, is expected to succeed Dorsey in the role. In addition, it is also unclear why the soon-to-be former CEO would leave his position at the company’s helm. However, the only thing that seems certain now is that whoever replaces Dorsey as CEO has a substantial task ahead. This includes Twitter’s aggressive internal goals comprising plans to secure 315 million daily active users by the end of 2023. Twitter expects that the daily active users are people the platform can make money off, instead of dormant or passive users. Furthermore, the social media platform is also looking to double its annual revenue in that same period.

Jack Dorsey Has Had Some Trying Times as Twitter CEO in Recent Times

Dorsey has weathered some trying times at the helm of Twitter over the last few years. For instance, (and perhaps most notably) Elliott Management, also a Twitter stakeholder, sought to remove him last year. The American investment management firm’s grievance was that Twitter was experiencing much slower growth compared to rival social media companies like Instagram and TikTok. In addition, Elliott Management founder Paul Singer also questioned why Dorsey should be allowed to run two public companies simultaneously – in reference to Square Inc (NYSE: SQ). The billionaire investor and Co-CEO of Elliott Management suggested that Dorsey relinquish his position at the helm of one of his publicly-owned firms. Eventually, the investment company suspended its demand after reaching an agreement with Twitter’s top management.

In recent times, Dorsey has also come under public censure over his hesitancy in censoring users known for making inflammatory comments on Twitter. Most prominent among such users are former President of the United States Donald Trump. The former president made several controversial comments on the social media platform, especially during his tenure as commander-in-chief. However, many of these went unchecked at the time.

Eventually, Twitter responded and permanently banned Trump from its platform early this year. Prior to this, in 2020, the company also initiated action to preempt or at least manage the spread of misinformation. This was especially evident during the US presidential election and the Covid pandemic.

Dorsey Is among Tech CEOs Who Testified at Congressional Hearing Earlier This Year

Early this year in March, Dorsey was part of the tech CEOs who testified at a US congressional hearing. Here the ‘bone to pick’ with lawmakers was how much of an influencing factor social media platforms were in the Capitol riot that took place in Washington DC on January 6th.

Dorsey founded Twitter in March 2006 and was CEO until 2008 before being ousted. He eventually returned to the helm in 2015, a position he has occupied to date.

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