Dick Costolo, Twitter’s CEO, is stepping down from his position. The news has been confirmed by a tweet from the official Twitter Investor Relations handle. The tweet, which was sent out at around 4 p.m. EST, reads as follows.
Dick Costolo to step down as CEO, will remain on Board, and Jack Dorsey appointed Interim CEO, effective July 1
— TwitterIR (@TwitterIR) June 11, 2015
Following the tweet, various media outlets started reporting about the fresh development. Dick Costolo himself retweeted the tweet and congratulated Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and welcomed him back.
Welcome back, @jack !! https://t.co/3papmyUKg0
— dick costolo (@dickc) June 11, 2015
Twitter’s official ID also tweeted about the development, which has shocked many people, the Verge reports.
Our CEO, @dickc , will step down as CEO, and we’ll welcome @jack as Interim CEO on July 1 #TWTRannouncement : http://t.co/q8Ygg91jzc
— Twitter (@twitter) June 11, 2015
According to the tweet, Dick Costolo will resign from the position of Twitter CEO and hand over the reins of the 9-year-old company to co-founder Jack Dorsey. Dorsey will head the company until Twitter hires a new CEO. Dick Costolo took over as CEO of the company back in 2010 after serving as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. However, since 2013, Dick has been widely criticized for being behind Twitter’s less than spectacular growth. Calls for his removal grew stronger following the announcement of Q1 2015 results for the company. Twitter only managed to earn revenues of $456.52 million against an expected figure of $456.52 million. However, until now, there was no indication from the senior management at Twitter that Dick Costolo’s position as the company CEO was in jeopardy. In fact, in an interview just two weeks ago, Dick himself had rubbished any prospective changes in Twitter’s leadership.
Meanwhile, it is being reported that Costolo shot off a letter to Twitter shareholders following the announcement of his resignation.
“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.”
While Twitter CEO Dick Costolo will no longer manage the day-to-day operations of the company, he still remain on the board of directors of the social media giant. Twitter shares have reacted positively to the news of dick Costolo’s resignation and were up by over 7 percent.
[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]