Twitter has officially returned to its roots. This morning, the company introduced co-founder Jack Dorsey as its permanent CEO, removing the interim stamp he has operated under for the last four months.
The move was announced with an SEC filing and a series of tweets from Dorsey, who is also the CEO of mobile payments startup Square. The company also named Adam Bain chief of revenue and partnerships and reportedly another CEO candidate as chief operating officer. Former CEO Dick Costolo, who stepped down on July 1, has left the company’s board of directors.
Dorsey officially takes over a publicly traded company struggling to gain momentum and the confidence of investors. Twitter stock has been hovering around its IPO price of $26 a share for much of the summer. In early trading today, it was slightly above that mark. The main issue for Wall Street is that Twitter has had difficulty gaining ground with the average user, as indicated by slowing growth in monthly active users. Twitter has 316 million MAUs (monthly average users) compared to Facebook’s 1.5 billion. Twitter has also been passed by another Facebook property, Instagram, which now has 400 million users.
Dorsey aims to push Twitter ahead by making the service easier to use for newcomers. One such effort, Project Lightning, is expected to launch soon and give people on Twitter a better curated experience around live events. The company has long dominated the internet conversation surrounded major news and entertainment events — the Super Bowl, for instance — but still has the perception of being a confusing place for the uninitiated. Dorsey and company are hoping to change that perception and continue to improve the advertising products that fuel its business.
Here’s Dorsey’s tweet-storm announcement:
?⚡️ Hello! We have some news to share! — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
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! — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
I’ve been CEO of both companies for over 3 months now. I have the smartest, strongest, and most determined leaders in the world on my teams. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
My focus is to build teams that move fast, and learn faster. In the past 3 months we have increased our speed and urgency at both companies. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
A few things about each company, and their impact in the world. What we stand for gives us purpose, and that purpose dictates our job ahead. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
Square stands for economic empowerment. We stand for financial systems that serve instead of rule. We stand for leveling the playing field. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
Square is the most powerful set of tools to start, run & grow a business. Download Square, start selling. Download Square, get cash to grow. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
Twitter stands for freedom of expression. We stand for speaking truth to power. And we stand for empowering dialogue. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
Twitter is the most powerful communications tool of our time. It shows everything the world is saying rn…10-15 minutes before anything else. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
Both companies have strong businesses and are well positioned to grow their impact in the world. I will do whatever it takes to ensure that. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
We’re working hard at Twitter to focus our roadmap on a few things we can make really great. And we’re strengthening our team along the way. — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
Our work forward is to make Twitter easy to understand by anyone in the world, and give more utility to the people who love to use it daily! — Jack (@jack) October 5, 2015
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