One month before 2021 comes to an end, some surprising business news has made its way to the headlines. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, has announced that he is stepping down from his role at the blue bird platform.
“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” said a statement released by Dorsey. “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.”
Since the announcement, shares increased by 4.8% before significantly decreasing Monday morning.
Dorsey, who also runs his more profitable digital payment company Square, was rumored to be stepping down in 2020 when Elliott Management Corp. considered replacing Dorsey with someone who could solely focus on Twitter. Dorsey, 45, will stay on board until his contract expires in 2022.
Dorsey’s successor has already been selected. Parag Agrawal will be the new CEO of the company, effective immediately. Agrawal served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), managing business strategy in the realms of AI, for nearly five years. He has been with the company for more than 10 years. Before his career at Twitter, he worked at several tech companies, including Yahoo, Microsoft, and AT&T.
Agrawal is challenged with the mission to further monetize Twitter’s services. He will have to figure out how to compete with short-form video platforms that are starting to hog social media popularity, while managing the new subscription service Twitter Blue, a tool that enables users to organize posts and rescind tweets, and the live audio chat service Twitter Spaces, which will compete with platforms such as, Discord and Clubhouse.
Among Twitter’s goals, the company expects to increase their user base by 20% and double their annual revenue by 2023.
