Jack Dorsey Steps Down as CEO of Twitter

Jack Dorsey, the bitcoin-friendly CEO of Twitter, is stepping down from his position as head of the social media giant, the company reported in a press release. He will remain a member of Twitter’s board of directors until his term expires in the middle of 2022.

• Parag Agrawal, who has worked at Twitter for more than a decade and has been Twitter’s chief technology officer since 2017, was unanimously appointed as Dorsey’s replacement by Twitter’s board of directors, effective immediately.
• “I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” wrote Dorsey 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.”
• Dorsey subsequently tweeted a more detailed explanation of why he was stepping down, saying there were multiple reasons why now was the right time for him to leave the company.
• Dorsey is a well-known fan of bitcoin, having initiated several projects involving the crypto both through Twitter and through payments company Square, of which he is also CEO. A source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed that Dorsey’s role at Square remains unchanged.
• Twitter’s stock initially jumped as much as 11% on the news, but trading was then halted by the NYSE due to “news pending.” They resumed trading at 15:56 UTC and were lately up 4.6%. Shares of Square were up about 0.5%.
• CNBC first reported Monday that Dorsey was expected to step down as CEO of Twitter.
• According to CNBC, Twitter stakeholder Elliott Management had tried to replace Dorsey as Twitter’s CEO last year because of concerns about his ability to run two public companies. But Elliott and Twitter eventually reached an agreement to have Dorsey continue in both roles.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Read more: Square Releases White Paper Detailing Protocol for a Decentralized Bitcoin Exchange

UPDATE (Nov. 29, 14:46 UTC): Updated with information in third and fourth bullet points.

UPDATE (Nov. 29, 15:00 UTC): Updated with news that trading in Twitter’s stock had been halted.

UPDATE (Nov. 29, 15:26 UTC): Updated with Twitter’s non-response.

UPDATE (Nov. 29, 16:12 UTC): Updated with information from Twitter’s news release.

UPDATE (Nov. 29, 16:33 UTC): Adds information about Dorsey’s role at Square in fourth bullet point.

UPDATE (Nov. 29, 17:02 UTC): Corrects Parag Agrawal’s former title.