Jack Dorsey said he plans to step down as the CEO of Twitter as soon as a new one is nominated.
In a tweet Tuesday morning, the CEO of the company said he planned to step down as the full-time CEO, but still be the CEO of its new operating structure after that. The change will make him technically CEO of the social network’s “outgrown” subsidiary, which he has been leading since October. He also is the CEO of Square, a payments company he also co-founded. Dorsey will continue to run both companies alongside “multi-year goals,” he said.
I’m leaving as CEO of two public companies but staying on as CEO of both. I’m starting an entirely new chapter but I’m still here to serve as our Interim CEO and guide the two businesses as we transition to new leadership. I’m truly excited about the future of the company. — jack (@jack) February 26, 2019
The news is seen as a sign of tumultuous times in the tech industry. Dorsey, often referred to as the “Jack of Twitter,” has been in the position since 2008 and recently in a tit-for-tat tweeted exchange with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, suggested he would consider leaving the job should that company’s leader depart from that post.
Twitter’s board, meanwhile, just hired Anthony Noto as its new chief financial officer. Noto was previously head of business development at Twitter.
The move also raises questions of how Dorsey would be able to fulfill both roles and concerns that a change may be ahead at Twitter. The company is in the midst of a major overhaul, in which it moved away from what had previously been one of the most popular features of the service — the ability to easily share short, looping video updates with audiences in lieu of text. Now all new tweets must include a 140-character limit. The company’s stock price has dropped more than 50 percent since the beginning of 2018. A law passed late last year in the U.S. requiring tech companies to disclose the amount of information they are required to release to investors. And Facebook in April announced a restructuring of its executive structure to include a more hands-on approach from Zuckerberg and his COO Sheryl Sandberg.
While taking on both jobs, Dorsey has also been at the center of the simmering feud with President Donald Trump. The tech leader last week revealed that his personal accounts had been the subject of “targeted” cyberattacks believed to have been linked to Iran, which he said have not been reversed. The attacks come a few weeks after Trump described his Twitter account as “totally hacked” and suggested that the platform is under the control of “dark forces.” Dorsey also recently came under fire for his handling of a feud between him and musician and satirist Kathy Griffin, whom he initially barred from his Twitter feed, ultimately allowing her to return. That move is seen as an indication of the social network’s mounting challenges.
Read the full story at CNN.
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