Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) accounts have had three high-profile hacks recently, raising questions about whether it is the fault of the social media platform or of users. However, former Shopkick CEO and current board member Cyriac Roeding thinks password security is the least of Twitter’s worries right now.
Things not looking good for Twitter
On Tuesday in an interview with CNBC’s Power Lunch, Roeding said, “Currently the world does not look very good for Twitter. There’s a lot more that has to happen at Twitter to put it back on track.”
Twitter is not different than most websites where manual password systems are outdated and old-fashioned, said Roeding. This week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter and Pinterest accounts were hacked. As per reports, Zuckerberg used the password “dadada,” which according to Roeding, proves that the CEO does not take himself very seriously.
Roeding was more focused on the recent executive exits at Twitter On Tuesday, Re/code reported that Jeff Seibert will no longer run the company’s product team. Seibert took over the core product team in September. Roeding notes that the departures are stoking rumors that the company could be bought in the coming year.
Roeding said people are waiting for updates to core products to make the site more user-friendly and more usable.
“We have yet to see a massive change there,” the tech investor said. “Some people are now talking about it being bought in the next year or so.”
Twitter may end up like Yahoo
Twitter is not the only Silicon Valley company to be rumored to be heading for a buyout. According to reports, Yahoo, which once had a price tag of $45 billion, is now being shopped for $3 billion. Roeding said most of the value is in the company’s Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes and not in its core business, but he added that the $3 billion valuation is really too low.
“And, Twitter will have the same issue,” the CEO said. “You see all these companies that seem to be highly valued until they actually have to be bought by someone and then the world looks very, very different.”
In 2016, the IPO market has slowed significantly. Citing data from Renaissance Capital, Barron’s reported that 31 companies have gone public in the U.S. so far this year, which is far fewer than the 69 that had their IPOs in the first five months of 2015 and the 115 in the first five months of 2014. Roeding said public markets have been more difficult than the private ones, and if Yahoo goes for $3 billion, it won’t surprise Silicon Valley.
