Parag Agrawal to replace Jack Dorsey: Who is the new Twitter CEO

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Indian-origin technology executive Parag Agrawal has been appointed as the new CEO of Twitter after the social media giant’s co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped down on Monday. Parag Agrawal had joined the microblogging site in 2011 as an Ads Engineer and has served as CTO since 2017.

In a letter posted on his Twitter account, Dorsey said he was “really sad...yet really happy” about leaving the company and that it was his decision.

"I've decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders. My trust in Parag as Twitter's CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational. I'm deeply grateful for his skill, heart, and soul. It's his time to lead," Dorsey said in a statement.

The resignation of Dorsey, who has been heading Twitter as its chief executive since 2015, will come into effect immediately. ​However, Dorsey will remain on the board until his term expires in 2022. On Sunday, Dorsey sent the tweet “I love Twitter."

Meanwhile, Parag Agrawal thanked Jack after being named the new CEO.

“I want to thank the board for their confidence in my leadership and Jack for his continued mentorship, support, and partnership,” Agrawal wrote on Twitter.

“I look forward to building on everything we have accomplished under Jack's leadership and I am energised by the opportunities ahead. By continuing to improve our execution, we will deliver tremendous value for our customers and shareholders as we reshape the future of public conversation.”

“We recently updated our strategy to hit ambitious goals, and I believe that strategy to be bold and right. But our critical challenge is how we work to execute against it and deliver results - that's how we'll make Twitter the best it can be for our customers, shareholders, and for each of you,” Agrawal noted.

The world is watching right now, even more than they have before, he said.

“Lots of people are going to have lots of different views and opinions about today's news. It is because they care about Twitter and our future, and it's a signal that the work we do here matters,” Agrawal added.

In addition to Agrawal’s appointment to the Board, the Company announced that Bret Taylor, a member of the Twitter Board since 2016, has been named Independent Chair of the Board, effective immediately. 

Parag Agrawal: All you need to know about the new Twitter CEO

• Parag Agrawal is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B).
• Agrawal his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University in 2011.
• His appointment as CTO was announced internally in October 2017.
• Agrawal joined Twitter in October 2011 as an ads engineer.
•  He most recently held the title of Distinguished Software Engineer.
• He takes the position most recently held by Adam Messinger, who left in late 2016.
• Before joining Twitter, he did research internships at AT&T, Microsoft and Yahoo.
• His contributions at Twitter include leading efforts to increase the relevance of tweets in Twitter users' timelines using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The social media giant was cofounded by Dorsey in 2006. Dorsey is also the top executive at Square, a financial payments company that he founded, and some big investors have openly questioned whether he can be effective in leading both.

Meanwhile, shares of Twitter are surging on a report that co-founder Jack Dorsey will step down as the company’s chief executive.

Twitter’s stock, which has consistently underperformed the market, jumped more than 10% at the opening bell Monday. Twitter Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press reported Monday.

ALSO READ | Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey steps down, Parag Agrawal to succeed him