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Jack Dorsey, the 45-year-old co-founder of Twitter, has announced he is stepping down as CEO of the social media company. Parag Agrawal, a 10-year veteran of Twitter and current chief technology officer, will replace him.
On Nov. 28, Dorsey, whose Twitter handle is simply @jack, tweeted a single sentence: “I love Twitter.”
On Nov. 29, he shared a screen shot of his resignation email, stating, “not sure anyone has heard but, I resigned from Twitter.”
not sure anyone has heard but,
I resigned from Twitter pic.twitter.com/G5tUkSSxkl
— jack
(@jack) November 29, 2021
“After almost 16 years of having a role at our company…from co-founder to CEO to exec chair to interim-CEO to CEO…I decided it’s finally time to leave,” Dorsey wrote in the email.
Dorsey has endured numerous attacks on his leadership in recent years, including his dual-CEO role at Twitter and payment processing service Square, as well as his handling of the tumultuous years of former President Donald Trump’s administration.
“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.”
Dorsey will remain a member of the company’s board until his term expires in 2022. In addition, Bret Taylor was named the new Chairman of the Board, succeeding Patrick Pichette, who will remain on the Board and serve as chair of the Audit Committee.
“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Jack for his visionary leadership and unrelenting dedication to Twitter since its founding,” Taylor said in a statement. “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.”
Dorsey co-founded the social media platform in 2006, and in this second stint as CEO, he’s been at the helm since 2015. The Verge reported that Dorsey was forced out the first time around as CEO, in 2007-08, and that Twitter’s board didn’t want him to return to the role while he was serving as CEO of another company.
“I’m really sad … yet really happy,” Dorsey wrote in his resignation email. “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.”
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