Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will officially step down from his role, effective immediately.
Dorsey co-founded Twitter with Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass back in 2006 and served as CEO until 2008. He later returned to the CEO role in 2015 after former CEO Dick Costolo stepped down. He has a net worth of approximately $11.8 billion, according to real-time tracking by Forbes.
“There’s a lot of talk about the importance of a company being ‘founder led’,” Dorsey said in an email to employees shared on Twitter Monday. “Ultimately, I believe that’s severely limiting and a single point of failure. I’ve worked hard to ensure this company can break away from its founding and founders.”
Dorsey will be replaced by Twitter chief technology officer Parag Agrawal, who has been unanimously appointed by the social media giant’s board.
“He’s been my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs,” Dorsey explained. “Parag has been behind every critical decision that has turned this company around.”
He also expressed his confidence in incoming independent board chairman Bret Taylor.
“He understands entrepreneurship, taking risks, companies at massive scale, technology, product and he’s an engineer,” Dorsey said. “All of the things the board and the company deserve right now.”
In addition, he praised the ambition and potential of the Twitter team.
The news, first reported by CNBC, caused Twitter shares to be halted during Monday’s trading session after surging in pre-market trading.
“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 all of you so much. I’m really sad…yet really happy.” Dorsey concluded. There aren’t many companies that get to this level. And there aren’t many founders that that choose their company over their ego. I know we’ll prove this was the right move.”
In addition to leading the social media giant, Dorsey serves as the CEO of Square, a financial payment company. His split duties have previously raised questions about his ability to suitably focus on issues facing Twitter. Last year, billionaire investor Paul Singer’s Elliott Management launched a bid to oust Dorsey from his role. However, Twitter’s board committee overseeing the review later recommended to keep Dorsey in the role.
Dorsey will remain a member of Twitter’s board until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders. Twitter will hold an all-hands meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss and answer employees’ questions about the transition. The company emphasized that there are no changes to the company’s previously shared financial outlook for the fourth quarter or full year 2021 or its 2023 goals.