JACK DORSEY RETURNS AS TWITTER CEO
BOOSTING PROFIT, USER BASE ON THE CO-FOUNDER’S TO-DO LIST
Jack Dorsey is back at Twitter for a second stint as its full-time CEO, years after being booted out in a boardroom drama, as perhaps a better man, manager and boss. The shortmessaging company revealed the appointment in a regulatory filing on Monday, giving Dorsey the job he has held temporarily since CEO Dick Costello’s exit.
“Hello! We have some news to share!,” Dorsey, 38 said in a Tweet Monday morning, following it up with the news: “We are naming @ adambain COO of Twitter, we’re working to change the composition of our Board, and I will serve as CEO of Twitter and Square!”
The Twitter board had in an earlier filing said Dorsey will have to chose one of them — Twitter or Square, a payments company he cofounded in 2010 — but decided to let him have both jobs.
“I honestly didn’t think we’d land on Jack when we started unless he could step away from Square,” Twitter co-founder and board member Evan Williams
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said in a post, adding, “But ultimately, we decided it was worth it. I’m confident this is exactly what Twitter needs at this time.”
Twitter has over 300 million users, but its growth has been slowing in recent years. Dorsey’s challenge would be to turn that around. He may remove the cap of 140 characters, which is already gone for direct messages.
Dorsey and Williams co-founded Twitter with Biz Stone and Noah Glass in 2006. Dorsey was CEO till 2008, overseeing a massive expansion in the Twitter’s subscriber base. Williams took over in 2010 amid growing ego-clashes. He stepped down in 2010, and was replaced by Dick Costello, a one-time stand-up comedian, who took the company public in 2013, but was unable to turn it profitable.
Dorsey replaced Costello as interim CEO, fueling reports he was going to return as full-time CEO, drawing comparisons to a career path made famous by the legendary Steve Jobs. Jobs, too, was kicked out of a company he co-founded, Apple. He went on to co-found Pixar, returned to Apple as interim CEO, and remained head of Pixar till its sale to Disney in 2006.
In his previous stint as Twitter CEO, Dorsey was a difficult man, manager and boss, according to Hatching Twitter, a book about the company and internal feuds, and many news reports.
He would be moody, sit at meetings saying nothing, for instance, or just scribble a word on the white board, leaving everyone guessing, uncomfortable and unsure.
While other colleagues and employees would be toiling away into the night, Dorsey would leave for yoga or drawing lessons. He would return later and work, but that wasn’t noticed.
He then picked and cultivated favourites. But there was a revolving door, they would leave soon enough to be replaced by new ones with equally short terms. It was unsettling for others.
Square changed him considerably, according to multiple reports.
His contributions at meetings were more substantial, and he delegated much of the daily chore to a team that has been called the “deepest bench” in Silicon Valley.
“This time, the bitterness that marked his brief return to Twitter in 2011 as executive chairman and product czar appears to be gone,” said Re/code, an online tech news publication, in a report based on multiple interviews, “Dorsey has grown up”.