Jack Dorsey has stepped down as chief of Twitter with immediate effect and Parag Agrawal, the company’s chief technology officer, is taking over.
The 45-year-old Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires at the 2022 annual general meeting. He is also the CEO of Square, his digital payments company.
“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” Dorsey said in a statement.
“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.”
Salesforce president and COO Bret Taylor, who was named the new Chairman of the Board, said: “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Jack for his visionary leadership and unrelenting dedication to Twitter since its founding. Jack returned to Twitter and turned the company around at the most critical time. The progress since then has been nothing short of incredible. Jack has given the world something invaluable and we will continue to carry it forward.
“Parag understands Twitter and appreciates the company’s unique potential. He has been instrumental in tackling our most important priorities, including accelerating our development velocity, and I know he will hit the ground running to strengthen execution and deliver results. The Board has the utmost confidence in Parag.”
The 37-year-old Agrawal has been Twitter’s CTO since 2017 and has been with the company for more than a decade after stints at AT&T, Microsoft and Yahoo.
Dorsey said in an email he published on Twitter that Agrawal has been his choice to lead the company “for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs”.
In an email to Twitter employees, Agrawal, an IIT alumnus from Mumbai, wrote: “Thank you, Jack. I’m honoured and humbled. And I’m grateful for your continued mentorship and your friendship. I’m grateful for the service that you built, the culture, soul, and purpose you fostered among us, and for leading the company through really significant challenges. I’m grateful for the trust you’ve put in me and for your continued partnership.
Referring to Twitter’s aggressive future plans, which include doubling the revenue by the end of 2023, Agarwal added: “Our purpose has never been more important. Our people and our culture are unlike anything in the world. There is no limit to what we can do together.
“We recently updated our strategy to hit ambitious goals, and I believe that strategy to be bold and right. But our critical challenge is how we work to execute against it and deliver results –that’s how we’ll make Twitter the best it can be for our customers, shareholders, and for each of you.”
Dorsey, who co-founded the social media giant in 2006, served as CEO until 2008 before being pushed out of the role. He returned to lead Twitter in 2015 after former CEO Dick Costolo stepped down.
