Jack Dorsey has stepped down as chief executive officer of Twitter, the social media giant he founded 15 years ago, for the second time.
Dorsey, 45, will remain on the company’s board of directors until May next year when he will leave the business altogether.
He was succeeded with immediate effect by Parag Agrawal, who joined Twitter as an engineer in 2011 and has served as its chief technology officer for the past four years. Twitter also confirmed that Bret Taylor, who has been on the board since 2016, will be the company’s new president.
Before the news was confirmed, Twitter stock had surged amid news that Dorsey, 45, was preparing to pull out. Shares were up more than 11% at one point before trading was halted ahead of the announcement.
When trading resumed in New York, shares began to fall and closed down 2.8% at $45.76, valuing Twitter at just under $37 billion. Dorsey’s remaining stake in the company he founded is worth $890 million.
In a letter to Twitter employees, Dorsey explained that it was his decision to move on, having been forced out once in the company’s early days in 2008. More recently, Last year he was trying to get through calls from Elliott Management, the activist investor. , step aside.
He added: “The Board of Directors ran a rigorous process that reviewed all options and unanimously appointed Parag. He was my choice for a while because he understood the company and its needs deeply. “
Signing an email to employees, Dorsey wrote: “I’m really sad…but really happy. Not many companies reach this level. And not many founders choose their companies because of their egos. I knew we were going to prove this was a step in the right direction. ”
Twitter operates one of the most prominent social media companies, whose users include political and business leaders, sports and entertainment stars, and influencers.
The platform makes most of its money from advertising and has been criticized for not tracking abuse and allowing its platform to be used to spread misinformation and interfere in elections.
It was set up in 2006 by Dorsey, who, in March of that year, sent out the first tweet that read: “just set up my twttr.”
A few years later, he was moved aside with Evan Williams, who had financed the business in its early days, to take his place. Referring to Dorsey’s interest in fashion design, Williams is said to have famously said: “You could be a tailor or the CEO of Twitter. You cannot be both”.
Dorsey will return to lead the company in 2015 after founding Square, the San Francisco-based payments platform in the meantime.
According to Forbes, he has a net worth of around $12 billion (£9 billion), although he is known for his generous donations. A few years ago, he gave away a third of his Twitter stock to employees, and last year he announced he would give away about $1 billion worth of Square shares, mainly to Covid-19 relief efforts. .
