Twitter continues to see departures of key executives, and this time, two more executives are leaving. Citing multiple sources, Re/code says Nathan Hubbard, head of media and commerce, and Jana Messerschmidt, head of business development, are leaving the micro-blogging giant.
Jafari to head both media and business development
It is still not certain why these two executives are leaving the company. Citing unnamed sources, the report says the micro-blogging giant has tapped one person to take over both roles. Ali Jafari, the VP running Twitter’s Amplify video advertising business, will oversee business development, media and Amplify as one unified partnership organization, the report says.
It is believed that many of Twitter’s marketing partners work with all three teams, and aligning them under Jafari might help streamline certain partnerships and projects. A spokesperson from the company declined to comment on the matter but confirmed the departures and Jafari’s new role, says Re/code.
Citing several sources, the report says Messerschmidt, who has been working at the micro-blogging giant for six years, is leaving on her own accord. She managed all the company’s relationships with outside partners, including Google. Also she is part of the #Angels investing team, which was created last year by a number of former and current female Twitter executives.
Is Twitter’s “Buy” button to blame?
The news of Hubbard’s departure follows a BuzzFeed report that Twitter disbanded its commerce team and discontinued work on its “Buy” button. The “Buy” button lets users purchase items directly from a tweet. The commerce team was disbanded in October when the micro-blogging giant laid off 8% of its workforce in its reorganization, the report says.
It all started a few months before that when the micro-blogging giant started pulling some engineering resources from the commerce group to work on advertising products. The company did not achieve what many expected when it hired someone with Hubbard’s level of experience. In 2013, the former Ticketmaster CEO joined the micro-blogging site to spearhead these commerce efforts.
In January, after Katie Stanton, the then-VP of Media, left the micro-blogging site, Hubbard was asked to run the media team. Some Twitter executives hoped Hubbard would stay and supervise Messerschmidt’s responsibilities when it was certain that she was leaving. According to a former colleague, Hubbard told confidantes that he is planning to start his own company, the report says.
