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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to step down, Parag Agrawal will be the new successor

Former Twitter CEO apologizes to staff after massive layoffs
Image: Video Screenshot

Twitter confirms that CEO Jack Dorsey will step down as CEO effective immediately; CTO Parag Agrawal named CEO and member of Twitter’s board.

CNBC first reported on Monday that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey intends to leave the social media company.

Dorsey, 45, joined the company in 2006 as a co-founder.

Following news of Dorsey’s expected resignation, Twitter’s stock increased by more than 10%.

Twitter reported 199 million monetizable daily active users and $1.04 billion in revenue in April.

Dorsey is also the CEO of Square, a financial payments company.

In recent years, he has become a bitcoin enthusiast, using his Twitter account to publicly promote the cryptocurrency. In July, he stated that bitcoin would play a “significant role” in Twitter’s future.

Twitter CEO resignation letter:

After almost 16 years of having a role at our company…from co-founder to CEO to Chair to Exec Chair to interim-CEO to CEO…I decided its finally time for me to leave. Why?

There’s a lot of talk about the importance of a company being “founder-led.” Ultimately I believe that’s severely limiting and a single point failure. I’ve worked hard to ensure this company can break away from its founding and founders. There are 3 reasons I believe now is th time.

The first is Parag becoming our CEO. The board ran a rigorous process considering all options and unanimously appointed Parag. He’s my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around. He’s curious, probing, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware, and humble. He leads with heart and is someone I learn from daily. My trust in him as our CEO is bone deep.

The second is Bret Taylor agreeing to become our board chair. I asked Bret to join our board when I became CEO, and he’s been excellent every way. He understands entrepreneurship, taking risks, companies at massive scale, technology, product, and he’s an engineer. All of things the board and the company deserve right now. Having Bret in this leadership role gives me a lot of confidence in the strength of o going forward. You have no idea how happy this makes me! The third is all of you. We have a lot of ambition and potential on this team. Consider this: Parag started here as an engineer who cared about our work and now he’s our CEO (I also had a similar path…he did it better!). This alone makes me proud.

I know that Parag will be channel this energy best because he’s lived it and knows what it takes. All of you have the potential to change the course of this company better. I believe this with all my heart!

Parag is CEO starting today. I’m going to serve on the board through my term (May-ish) to help Parag and Bret with the transition. And after that…I’ll leave the board. Why not stay or become chair? I believe it’s really important to give Parag the space he needs to lead. And ba previous point, I believe it’s critical a company can stand on its own, free of its founder’s influence or direction.

I want you all to know that this was my decision and I own it. It was a tough one for me, of course. I love this service and company…and you so much. I’m really sad…yet really happy. There aren’t many companies that get to this level. And there aren’t many founders that choose their company over their own ego. I know we’ll prove this was the right move.

We’ll have an all-hands meeting tomorrow at 9:05 AM Pacific to discuss it all. Until then, thank you all for the trust you’ve placed in me, and the openness to build that trust in Parag and yourselves. I love you all.

jack

PS I’m tweeting this email. My one wish is for Twitter Inc to be the most transparent company in the world. Hi mom!

Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal responds to Jack Dorsey’s resignation letter.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal letter

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About the author

Brendan Taylor

Brendan Taylor was a TV news producer for 5 and a half years. He is an experienced writer. Brendan covers Breaking News at Insider Paper.







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