Co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has officially resigned as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), after 16-years of leading the social networking firm. ayokinews.com reports.
Dorsey’s tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter had a significant impact on the world most especially Nigeria.
In 2020, the #EndSARS movement which took over the streets of Nigeria enjoyed the support of Twitter, which was at the heart of the protest.
It wasn’t surprising to many Nigerians when the Federal Government on Friday, June 5, 2021, decided to ban the use of the micro-blogging platform in the country.
Giving an excuse for the ban, the Nigerian government alleged that Twitter played a very dangerous role in the #EndSARS protest that led to the wanton destruction of lives and properties.
The height of all actions from the Nigerian government was the October 20, 2020, indiscriminate shooting of protesters by security operatives at the Lekki Toll Gate plaza in Lagos.
The judicial probe, denials and reports of the #EndSARS panel are still raising dusts over the Lekki toll plaza incident.
Meanwhile, out of the 43 million social network users in Nigeria, 61.4% are on Twitter.
Hopefully, the change of administrative leadership at Twitter would result to more positive changes for the social network’s 290.5 million global users.
Below is Jack Dorsey’s resignation letter:
“Hello team.
“After almost 16 years of having a role at our company…..from co-founder to CEO to Chair to Exec Chair to interim-CEO to CEO…I decided it’s finally time for me to leave. Why?
“There’s a lot of talk about the importance of a company being ‘founder-led.’ Ultimately I believe that’s severely limiting and a single point of failure. I’ve worked hard to ensure this company can break away from its founding and founders. There are 3 reasons I believe now is the right time.
“The first is Parag becoming our CEO. The board ran a rigorous process considering all options and unanimously appointed Parag. He’s been my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around. He’s curious, probing, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware, and humble. He leads with heart and soul, and is someone I learn from daily. My trust in him as our CEO is bone-deep.
“The second is Bret Taylor agreeing to become our board chair, I asked Bret to join our board when I became CEO, and he’s been excellent in every way. He understands entrepreneurship, taking risks, companies at massive scale, technology, product, and he’s an engineer. All of the things the board and the company deserve right now. Having Bret in this leadership role gives me a lot of confidence in the strength of our board going forward. You have no idea how happy this makes me!
“The third is all of you. We have a lot of ambition and potential on this team. Consider this: Parag started here as an engineer who cared deeply about our work and now he’s our CEO (I also had a similar path…he did it better!). This alone makes me proud. I know that Parag will be able to channel this energy best because he’s lived it and knows what it takes. All of you have the potential to change the course of this company for the better. I believe this with all my heart!
“Parag is CEO starting today. I’m going to serve on the board through my term (May-ish) to help Parag and Bret with the transition. And after that…I’ll leave the board. Why not stay or become chair? I believe it’s really important to give Parag the space he needs to lead. And back to my previous point, I believe it’s critical a company can stand on its own, free of its founder’s influence or direction.
“I want you all to know that this was my decision and I own it. It was a tough one for me, of course. I love this service and company…and all of you so much. I’m really sad……yet really happy. There aren’t many companies that get to this level. And there aren’t many founders that choose their company over their own ego. I know we’ll prove this was the right move.
“We’ll have an all-hands meeting tomorrow at 9:05 AM Pacific to discuss it all. Until then, thank you all for the trust you’ve placed in me, and for the openness to build that trust in Parag and yourselves. I love you all.”
Although, Jack Dorsey, might have resigned as Twitter’s CEO, but he still remains the Chief Executive Officer of Square, his financial payments company which manages Point-Of-Sale (POS) transactions for many small businesses.
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