Twitter, Inc. today announced that Dick Costolo has decided to step down as Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, effective July 1, 2015. Twitter’s Board of Directors has named Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, to serve as Interim CEO while the Board conducts a search for Twitter’s next CEO. Costolo will continue to serve on Twitter’s Board of Directors, and Dorsey will continue to serve as CEO of Square, Inc., the payments and financial services company he co-founded in 2009.
Twitter’s Board has formed a Search Committee to lead the search for a permanent CEO. The Search Committee is chaired by the Board’s Lead Independent Director, Peter Currie, and includes Peter Fenton and Evan Williams. The Committee will retain a leading executive search firm to assist in conducting a global search, which will consider both internal and external candidates for the CEO position.
Costolo said in a statement, “I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the Company. We have great leaders who work well together and a clear strategy that informs our objectives and priorities. There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition. He has a profound understanding of the product and Twitter’s mission in the world as well as a great relationship with Twitter’s leadership team. I am deeply appreciative of the confidence the Board, the management team and the employees have placed in me over the years, and I look forward to supporting Twitter however I can going forward.”
Dorsey said in a statement, “The future belongs to Twitter thanks in large part to Dick Costolo’s dedication and vision. Dick has put a world-class team in place and created a great foundation from which Twitter can continue to change the world and grow. We have an exciting lineup of products and initiatives coming to market, and I look forward to continuing to execute our strategy while helping facilitate a smooth transition as the Board conducts its search.”
Dorsey continued, “I am grateful for the talented team at Square, which I will continue to lead. We have built a very strong company from top to bottom, and I am as committed as ever to its continued success.”
Currie said in a statement, “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Dick for his years of tireless devotion to building Twitter into the strong and dynamic company it is today, putting us in a superb position for continued growth and innovation for many years to come. We look forward to his continued contributions during the transition period and as an ongoing member of the Board. The Board is fully committed to running a thorough process to identify the right CEO to lead Twitter into its next phase of growth. In the meantime, we are fortunate to have Jack – one of our founders – step back into a management role and help lead Twitter as we continue executing on our strategic priorities.”
Twitter also today reaffirmed its outlook for the second quarter of 2015. The Company continues to expect revenue to be in the range of $470 million to $485 million and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $97 million to $102 million. Stock-based compensation expense is expected to be in the range of $190 million to $200 million, excluding the impact of equity awards that may be granted in connection with potential future acquisitions.
Source: Twitter, Inc.
MacDailyNews Take: Out with the old, in with the old (temporarily).
Fsck Twitter. Could never get into it. It’s never made any real money either.
“Out with the old, in with the old (temporarily).”
MDN makes it sound as though Costolo was no longer perming for Twitter. A review of Costolo’s history since he cofounded Burning Door Networked Media in 1995, his average with a firm (all of which, excepting Twitter, he co-founded) was about 3 years. While heading Twitter Costolo, in 2013, was recognized as “one of Silicon Valley’s most impressive CEOs”, and TIME Magazine named him one of the 10 Most Influential U.S. Tech CEOs.”
At 51 Costolo is anything but “old”.
My guess, after 5 years at Twitter (longer than any previous tenure), Costolo has achieved everything he set out to accomplish at Twitter, and is now looking for a different challenge.
Hopefully the new CEO will end the Twitter “Sign Up” popup window– it’s annoying . . . I am not a member of Twitter, but there is one person that I check their Twitter feed from time to time. When I click on the link a big white box pops up saying, “Sign Up for Twitter” . . . for me personally, being greeted by a white popup window does not inspire me to join a service. Imagine if every time you clicked on MDN to read an article, a popup said, “Join MDN!” . . . Because of the power of repetition, the “Sign Up for Twitter” white box represents the Twitter experience for me . . . So you’re wondering, “Well, how else could twitter get you to sign up?” . . . Here’s how: Pure Anonymity. If Twitter had an “easy to use” setting with a standard proxy app to conceal my identity and location, then I would sign up . . . since Twitter is unlikely to do that, they are losing access to potential members like me.