Jack Dorsey has decided to step down as CEO of Twitter, the company has announced. He will be replaced by Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal. The board of directors has unanimously approved his candidacy. Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires in 2022 at a meeting with shareholders.
"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", said Dorsey.
Shares of the social media platform jumped more than 10 percent in pre-market trading following the news, paring losses of almost 14 percent this year. Nasdaq has suspended trading in Twitter shares following their quick jump.
Previous Attempts to Oust Dorsey
Twitter stakeholder the investment firm Elliott Management previously attempted to replace Dorsey as CEO in 2020, but later reached a deal with the company’s management. Dorsey has served as both CEO of Twitter and the digital payments company Square, which he co-founded in 2009.
Founder of Elliott Management billionaire Paul Singer questioned whether Dorsey should head both companies and called on him to resign, CNBC writes.
Parag Agrawal will have to take on a serious challenge – earlier this year, Twitter said it aims to increase the number of monetisable daily active users from over 200 million currently to 315 million by the end of 2023, and to at least double its revenue, which according to Forbes will reach almost $5 billion this year.
From University Dropout to CEO of Major Internet Company
Dorsey was born on 19 November 1976. In his teenage years, he became interested in dispatch routing. Dorsey attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology for two years, before transferring to New York University in 1997 (he dropped out two years later). It was there that he came up with the idea of Twitter, which initially was designed as a messaging up.
In 2006, he co-founded Twitter with three other tech entrepreneurs - Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. Dorsey served as the CEO until 2008, when he stepped down and became chairman of the board. In 2012, Twitter had more than 100 million users who posted over 300 million tweets a day. Three years later, Dorsey returned as CEO of the company, which went on to become one of the most visited websites on the Internet.
In recent years, Twitter has come under criticism from US politicians on both sides of the aisle. Conservatives have berated the social media platform for what they have described was the silencing of their voices. One of the biggest critics was former President Donald Trump, whose posts about COVID-19 and alleged voter fraud were flagged by Twitter as misinformation.
Left-wing politicians criticised Twitter for not doing enough to deal with the spread of misinformation. This spring, Dorsey was grilled by the House Energy and Commerce Committee along with the heads of Facebook and Google, with lawmakers accusing Twitter and other tech companies of failing to delete what they described as hateful messages posted by supporters of Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on 6 January. Over 100 people were injured and five people – four protesters and one police officer – died as a result of the rioting.
Following the incident, President Joe Biden spoke about revoking Section 230 of the Communications Act, which states that content providers on the Internet (in this case the social media company) should not be treated as publishers.
Dorsey defended the company’s actions, saying they were driven by impartiality.
“Every day, millions of people around the world tweet hundreds of millions of tweets, with one set of rules that applies to everyone and every tweet. We strive to implement policies impartially and at scale. We built our policies primarily around the promotion and protection of three fundamental human rights — freedom of expression, safety, and privacy. At times, these rights can conflict with one another. As we develop, implement, and enforce our policies, we must balance these rights”, he said.