Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. Image: Twitter
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO with immediate effect, handing the reins to former CTO Parag Agrawal.
Jack Dorsey has announced he is stepping down as CEO of Twitter effective immediately.
He will remain a member of the board until his term expires in 2022, after which time he plans to end his 15 year journey with the company.
Twitter’s board of directors has appointed Parag Agrawal as CEO and a member of the board. Agrawal has worked at Twitter for more than a decade and has been CTO since 2017.
“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders. My trust in Parag as Twitter’s CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational. I’m deeply grateful for his skill, heart and soul. It’s his time to lead,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey was one of the founders of Twitter in 2006, serving as CEO from 2007 to 2008. He returned as CEO in 2015 after the resignation of Dick Costolo. He shared his latest decision to step down on Twitter.
not sure anyone has heard but,
I resigned from Twitter pic.twitter.com/G5tUkSSxkl
— jack⚡️ (@jack) November 29, 2021
Agrawal said: “I want to thank the board for their confidence in my leadership and Jack for his continued mentorship, support and partnership. I look forward to building on everything we have accomplished under Jack’s leadership and I am incredibly energized by the opportunities ahead. By continuing to improve our execution, we will deliver tremendous value for our customers and shareholders as we reshape the future of public conversation.”
Agrawal first joined Twitter in 2011 with a PhD in computer science from Stanford University. He was an influential engineer at the company and, in his role as CTO, worked to advance the state of machine learning across the business.
On top of the CEO change, Twitter has named Bret Taylor as independent chair of the board, effective immediately. Taylor has been a board member since 2016 and is the president and COO of Salesforce. He succeeds Patrick Pichette, who will remain a member of the board and chair of the audit committee.
“Jack returned to Twitter and turned the company around at the most critical time. The progress since then has been nothing short of incredible,” said Taylor. “Jack has given the world something invaluable and we will continue to carry it forward.”
Taylor added that Agrawal was instrumental in tackling Twitter’s important priorities when he was CTO. “I know he’ll hit the ground running to strengthen execution and deliver results,” he said.
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