The Twitter CEO search, which has now stretched to over 100 days, may be over soon. Jack Dorsey, who was appointed as the interim CEO of the company, is expected to be named as the permanent CEO, according to a report from Re/code, citing unnamed sources. It is likely that the announcement regarding the new CEO could come as early as Thursday.
Dorsey the only obvious choice
Dorsey’s appointment should not come as a surprise. Dick Costolo served as the firm’s CEO for the past six years, and since he stepped down in June, Dorsey has been the front-runner in Twitter’s CEO search. Reportedly, two candidates were shortlisted for the role during Twitter’s search – Jack Dorsey and Adam Bain. The latter is the head of revenue at the company and, as reported by Re/Code, refused to take the job as long as Dorsey was interested in continuing with it.
Dorsey was always the best man for the job, but the only problem was he is already the CEO of Square, and is not willing to give up on that role. “Dorsey will apparently continue to run Square, the payments company he founded where he’s also CEO,” the report said.
Meanwhile, Twitter has restructured its product team, and Jeff Seibert has been put in charge of Twitter’s core flagship product. Earlier, he was running Twitter’s developer products. At the last earnings call, Dorsey himself acknowledged the need to step up the company’s product team. Twitter’s product woes are one of the major reason Dorsey, who is very much a product visionary, was called back after Costolo announced his exit.
Twitter could reshuffle Board
Costolo has remained on Twitter’s board after he left the CEO job, but this could change soon. “Sources added that there is likely to be some shake-up of the board too, most immediately the departure of Costolo as a director,” Re/code’s Kara Swisher and Kurt Wagner say.
Twitter is going through tough times right now, probably the roughest stretch in the history of the company. Twitter’s stock hit an all-time low in August, and a lack of product vision is a major concern among people close to the company. The recent departure of several top executives from the company has also intensified concerns with regard to its future.
