Co-founder Dorsey gets second chance to run Twitter

SAN FRANCISCO — Jack Dorsey is following in the footsteps of his Silicon Valley idol — Steve Jobs.

Named Twitter Inc.’s interim CEO on Thursday, Dorsey returns to a job he had until being pushed out in 2008 from the firm he helped create. Similarly, Jobs returned to Apple as interim CEO in 1997 after being forced out in 1985, and guided the company to create the iMac, iPhone and iPad.

Dorsey, 38, demurred when asked during an interview whether he’s interested in becoming Twitter’s permanent CEO. “It’s really up to the search committee and they’re going to look at internal and external candidates,” he said.

His return signals that Twitter is looking for a leader who can inspire confidence in the company’s product vision, after a slew of leadership changes in the past five years, slower growth than anticipated and advertising efforts that have failed to gain traction.

Dorsey’s passion for Twitter, the social-media company which he helped start in 2006 with Evan Williams and Biz Stone, has been evident. Even while running Square Inc., a digital-payments company he co-founded in 2009, Dorsey has stayed active as Twitter’s chairman, serving as adviser to outgoing CEO Dick Costolo, who took the top post in October 2010. The pair meet over dinners most weeks on Tuesdays near the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

Much of the story of Twitter’s early days involves conflict among the founders. Dorsey’s relationship with Williams grew so strained that Williams pushed him out of the CEO role.