Three months after Dick Costolo stepped down as Twitter CEO, company co-founder Jack Dorsey looks set to be named as his replacement.
Dorsey’s been running the show as interim CEO since Costolo left at the start of July, with Re/code reporting he could be announced as Twitter’s new boss as early as today.
Sources with inside knowledge said that board changes are also likely, with Costolo, for example, likely to leave his position as a Twitter director.
Two jobs
Should Dorsey be named as permanent boss of the social media outfit, it’s believed he’ll remain as CEO of Square, a mobile payments company he co-founded in 2009.
That in itself would be an interesting development, as the Twitter board said during its search for a new chief that it wouldn’t be possible for the appointee to run two companies at the same time – in other words, they’d be expected to fully commit to Twitter.
It seems evident, however, that during his time as interim CEO, Dorsey has managed to convince both the board and investors that he’s the right man for the job, and as a result could be named as Costolo’s permanent replacement in the coming days.
The board has apparently also been considering Adam Bain, Twitter’s head of revenue and partnerships, though reports suggested he wouldn’t put himself forward for the job unless Dorsey stated he didn’t want it himself.
Costolo, who became CEO in 2010, stepped down over the summer amid increasing concern over Twitter’s ability to expand its user base and increase revenue.
According to Re/code, one of Costolo’s shortcomings was his failure to spell out Twitter’s long-term mission. Dorsey, meanwhile, “is very much the opposite, and those who have worked with him say he can be ruthless if you disagree with his vision.”
The challenges for Dorsey, if he is appointed, are clearly huge, though the board appears to believe he has the ideas and ability to take the microblogging platform to a whole new audience, increasing revenue and pleasing investors in the process.
