Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of Twitter, is leaving the company

Jack Dorsey, the head of Twitter, is stepping down as the social network’s CEO. This information was confirmed by the founder of the microblogging site, after it was reported by the American media on Monday.

The group’s California board of directors has already chosen a successor to the iconic jack. This is Parag Agrawal, the current Technical Director (CTO) for Twitter – a position he has held since 2017 where he specifically supervised the development of machine learning algorithms.

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“I have decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is willing to lay off its founders. I have deep confidence in Paragg as the CEO of Twitter,” Jack Dorsey said in a statement released by Twitter. The founder will remain a member of the board of directors until 2022 – the end of his current term.

Since returning to corporate head at Blue Bird, in October 2015, the alternative-style entrepreneur has been regularly criticized for running two companies at the same time: Twitter and mobile payments specialist Square, the other company. He founded in 2009 – three years after Twitter – whose capitalization is now more than double that of the social network ($98 billion vs. 39). Jack Dorsey owns 13% of Square and 2% of Twitter.

Difficulty generating income

It is impossible for a single president to devote enough time to these two companies, fund activist Elliott – a contributor to Twitter – already sought last year to replace Jack Dorsey at the helm of the group. The president was only able to save his head by bringing Elliott and another fund, Silver Lake, to the board of directors.

However, he continued to be criticized for the difficulties Twitter has in monetizing its audience. The comparison with the two online advertising giants, Facebook and Google, has always been tough on the Bluebird network and its founder.

In 2008, Jack Dorsey was first fired from public administration by Twitter’s board of directors, dissatisfied with his management and accused of leaving too early to practice yoga. The “ascetic billionaire” made a triumphant comeback in 2015, before driving the social network to profitability in 2018. But the choppy trajectory of results continued to frustrate investors. Even a recent promise to double revenue by 2023 is no longer enough to convince them.

On the other hand, rumors of Jack Dorsey’s upcoming departure were greeted by markets on Monday. Twitter initially took 9%, and Square 3%, before suspending the inclusion of the two addresses pending an official announcement.

While he hasn’t decided on his profession after leaving, Jack will be keen to do so. The Square chief recently invested in Jay-Z’s music streaming platform Tidal and has become a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency world – being a passionate Bitcoin advocate on a regular basis. He became a billionaire in 2013 with the initial public offering on Twitter, today Jack Dorsey is at the head of a fortune estimated at $ 11.8 billion by Forbes magazine.