Twitter shares jumped more than 7% on Tuesday. But the stock is still down more than 29% in the last 90 days. The company’s CEO Dick Costolo revealed in an SEC filing that he unloaded $5 million worth of stock earlier this week. According to the filing, he sold 140,352 shares of the microblogging company in the open market on Monday, January 5.
Costolo still owns Twitter shares worth $30 million
He sold Twitter stock at an average price of $36.31 apiece for a total of $5.09 million. Following the transaction, he now owns 818,608 shares of Twitter, currently valued at $29.72 million. Last month, two of Costolo’s family trusts liquidated all their shares in Twitter stock for about $20 million. The move comes at a time when a number of analysts and experts are demanding Costolo’s exit.
Recently, SunTrust analyst Robert Peck said in a research note that Dick Costolo was unlikely to last another year. Peck frequently receives questions from clients about who could be Costolo’s successor. Harvard Business School professor Bill George has also urged that Costolo should step down from the position of CEO and make room for someone worthy.
Costolo has a long-term vision for Twitter
Though many experts have questioned his leadership abilities, Twitter CEO has outlined a long-term vision for the company. He has rolled out a number of new features to increase user engagement. On New Year’s Eve, the company began rolling out a new feature called “While you were away.” It gives users a recap of tweets they missed while they were away. Costolo also plans to increase the percentage of ads in Twitter feed from 1.3% to 5%, which could take the company’s revenue to $5 billion.
The recent rally in Twitter stock was driven by reports that billionaire investor Carl Icahn was buying a stake in the company. Seabreeze Partners fund manager Doug Kass predicted that Icahn would buy 9.9% stake in Twitter. As of now, activist investor Carl Icahn doesn’t own stakes in Twitter.
Twitter shares fell 2.06% to $37.97 at 11:12 AM EST on Wednesday.
