Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief technology officer, will take over as CEO.
“I have decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to continue operating from the founders,” Dorsey said in a statement Monday. “My trust in Parag as Twitter CEO is profound. His work over the past 10 years has been transformative. I am incredibly grateful for his skill, heart and mind. his soul. It’s time for him to lead.”
The departure comes six years after Dorsey returned to his role as chief executive to help turn the social network’s business around. During Dorsey’s tenure, Twitter hit a profit, announced a billion-dollar first quarter, and began testing and releasing a host of features to attract users. But Twitter, like its peers, also faces the challenge of content moderation as well as growing scrutiny from lawmakers and the public.
Although much smaller than rivals like Facebook, Twitter remains at the center of debates over whether social media platforms should be held accountable for curbing hate speech, violent rhetoric. force and misinformation on their websites. Dorsey has testified several times before Congress amid criticism over his company’s handling of user content.
Earlier this year, Twitter took the unusual step of permanently banning a sitting US president from office following a US Capitol uprising. But under Dorsey’s leadership, Twitter has struggled to design and enforce an ever more complex set of policies and rules for its users, including world leaders.
Dorsey had to overcome those challenges while dividing his time at Twitter by taking on the position of CEO of Square, the payments company he also co-founded. This summer, Dorsey suggested that he might be ready to leave Twitter and Square to embark on bitcoin-related initiatives.
Reports of Dorsey’s looming departure come 15 years after he helped found the short messaging company. Dorsey marked the moment with the platform’s first tweet: “just set up my twttr.”
Dorsey first became CEO of Twitter in 2007, but was forced out the following year. He returned as CEO in 2015.
