Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies throughout a distant video listening to held by subcommittees of the U.S. Home of Representatives Vitality and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Function in Selling Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, March 25, 2021.
CNBC
After setting formidable consumer progress and income objectives final month, Twitter is gearing up for what may very well be its most transformative interval ever.
After CEO Jack Dorsey’s management got here beneath scrutiny final 12 months by activist buyers, Twitter has ramped up its growth of recent options, introducing quite a few adjustments and gearing up for much more. This alteration comes as the corporate reels from the period of former President Donald Trump, who was lastly booted off of the service in January.
Because it enters into a brand new stage, that is who leads Twitter in 2021.
Jack Dorsey: Founder and CEO
Regardless of being CEO, Dorsey usually comes off as checked out from Twitter. Blame his twin function as CEO of Square, his tendency to take off for weeks at a time on meditation retreats, his discuss of transferring to Africa and his peculiar seems to be, which embrace tattoos, piercings and a wizard-like beard. One latest instance got here when the platform determined to ban Donald Trump completely — Dorsey was reportedly on trip on an island in French Polynesia when the fateful determination was handed down.
Individuals at Twitter say Dorsey is something however checked out. He’s recognized for empowering his lieutenants and fascinating with them on main points, in addition to tending to smaller particulars that would not usually be anticipated out of a CEO, comparable to writing his personal remarks earlier than testifying in front of Congress.
Dorsey helped invent Twitter in 2006 whereas working as one of many few workers at Apparent Company, the corporate that preceded it. Dorsey was Twitter’s unique CEO however was pressured out in 2008, then returned to Twitter’s helm as interim CEO in June 2015. He was named everlasting CEO just a few months later.
Since his return, the corporate has had its ups and downs however has typically trended upward. The corporate’s inventory worth is up greater than 70% since June 2015, and its annual income has grown nearly 68% from $2.22 billion in 2015 to $3.72 billion in 2020.
Dorsey’s management got here beneath hearth in early 2020 when activist hedge fund Elliott Administration initiated a marketing campaign to take away him as CEO. The problem was resolved when Twitter struck a take care of Elliott Administration and Silver Lake, giving every funding agency a seat on the board.
Since then, Twitter has ramped up its product growth, notably launching ephemeral Fleets in 2020 and testing a digital audio room characteristic referred to as Areas.
Extra importantly, the corporate final month announced ambitious goals of doubling its income to not less than $7.5 billion and hitting 315 million monetizable day by day energetic customers (mDAUs) by the top of 2023.
Ned Segal: CFO
Twitter’s Chief Monetary Officer, Ned Segal
John Chiala | CNBC
In contrast to many CFOs, Segal is an energetic chief for the corporate and one among its most outspoken executives. Segal is a typical presence at all-hands conferences, and externally, he is among the firm’s greatest communicators, each on his Twitter account and at earnings and different firm occasions.
Previous to Twitter, Segal was senior vice chairman of finance for Intuit’s small enterprise group and he was CFO at RPX, a patent danger administration companies firm. That have with finance, know-how and the mix of the 2 makes him a really perfect tech CFO.
Segal could have most confirmed his price in 2020, taking part in a crucial function in brokering the deal with Elliott Administration, a former worker mentioned.
Vijaya Gadde: Head of authorized, coverage and belief
Vijaya Gadde
Supply: Twitter
As the very best rating girl at Twitter, Gadde is chargeable for dealing with a number of the firm’s most tough duties, together with authorized issues and something associated to public coverage and belief and security on the platform. That signifies that if the corporate is having issues with harassment, misinformation or Washington, Gadde’s individuals are dealing with it.
Gadde is alleged to detest public talking however over the previous 12 months has stepped up extra. Particularly, Gadde has ramped up use of her Twitter account to announce and clarify the corporate’s choices relating to public coverage.
She performed a vital function in figuring out what to do with the account of former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 revolt on the U.S. Capitol. The corporate finally determined to permanently ban Trump.
Former workers say Gadde doesn’t have ultimate say on what the corporate decides to do with regard to its insurance policies. Dorsey retains that energy. However 99% of the time, Dorsey goes with Gadde’s suggestions, former workers mentioned.
Parag Agrawal: Chief know-how officer
Agrawal is one among Twitter’s high tech executives. He’s accountable for technique involving synthetic intelligence and machine studying, in keeping with his bio.
Agrawal is main Project Bluesky, an unbiased effort to construct an open normal for social media. Which means creating know-how and protocols that may permit content material posted on one social media service to work throughout a number of social networks, much like how emails may be learn by any electronic mail service.
Bluesky is a precedence and visionary challenge for Dorsey, former workers mentioned. That’s the reason he entrusted its management to Agrawal.
Mike Montano: Engineering lead
Over the previous few years, Twitter has revamped its technical infrastructure so it may construct new merchandise quicker. Montano, the corporate’s engineering lead, has been crucial to that overhaul. The corporate has credited the modernization of its technical infrastructure because the catalyst behind the creation of recent options, like Fleets and Areas.
Montano is Agrawal’s right-hand man, and now that the overhaul is completed, Montano is concentrated on hiring extra skilled executives to steer Twitter’s fast-growing engineering group so it may construct even quicker, one worker instructed CNBC.
Kayvon Beykpour: Product lead
Co-founder and CEO of Periscope, Kayvon Beykpour, speaks onstage throughout TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015.
Noam Galai | Getty Pictures | TechCrunch
As product lead, Beykpour is accountable for the technique and growth of Twitter’s options and merchandise. he joined Twitter by the corporate’s 2015 acquisition of Periscope, an app that permits customers to livestream from their smartphones.
Below Beykpour’s management, Twitter has created a number of the most revolutionary product adjustments in firm historical past.
The corporate final 12 months launched Fleets, that are full-screen photographs and movies that disappear from customers’ pages after 24 hours, very like Tales on Snapchat and Facebook‘s Instagram. The corporate has additionally begun publicly testing Areas, that are digital audio rooms the place customers can congregate for stay conversations, much like the favored app Clubhouse. Wanting forward, Beykpour introduced that Twitter will start testing subscription options that may permit creators to submit unique content material for his or her paying followers.
Bruce Falck: Income product lead
Whereas Beykpour leads the software program growth of Twitter’s consumer merchandise, Falck is his counterpart for merchandise which are utilized by entrepreneurs. His group is tasked with creating the instruments that the corporate’s purchasers use to run advertisements on Twitter and goal them to the service’s customers.
Falck’s group lately revamped Twitter’s cell utility promotion. MAP is utilized by entrepreneurs to run direct-response advertisements on Twitter, which is a pool of advert {dollars} that the corporate has barely tapped into. The output of Falck’s group will likely be essential to Twitter reaching its purpose of doubling its annual income by the top of 2023.
Matt Derella: World VP, income and content material partnerships
Whereas Falck makes the advert merchandise, Derella is the one who brings within the purchasers who use them. As Twitter’s prospects lead, Derella heads the corporate’s customer-facing group, together with the gross sales group and the partnerships groups. Derella’s obligations embrace arising with Twitter’s gross sales technique and bolstering income.
Dantley Davis: Head of design and analysis
Davis leads the group that decides how the corporate’s merchandise look, and is chargeable for the groups that do product analysis to find out what sort of merchandise the corporate ought to construct subsequent and the way shoppers are utilizing the corporate’s merchandise, an worker mentioned. Earlier than Twitter, Davis led product design for Fb’s Tales, Information Feed and video options, in keeping with his govt bio. He beforehand labored at Netflix.
Leslie Berland: Chief advertising officer and head of individuals
Twitter CMO Leslie Berland attends Twitter’s #HereWeAre brunch and dialog at Cannes Lions on June 20, 2018 in Cannes, France.
Francois Durand | Getty Pictures Leisure | Getty Pictures
The longest-tenured individual on the chief group after Dorsey is Berland, who heads the corporate’s advertising and other people organizations, which incorporates communications, recruiting and human sources.
Berland usually makes the rounds as a spokeswoman for the corporate, attending varied conferences. She can be beloved by Dorsey, former workers mentioned.
Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko: Head of safety
The most recent addition to Twitter’s govt group is Zatko, who goes by “Mudge.” He was introduced on in November to overtake and enhance the corporate’s cybersecurity. Mudge is a revered hacker within the cybersecurity world and has beforehand labored at Stripe and particular tasks at Google.
His hiring comes after Twitter endured an unprecedented hack in July, when most of the most-followed accounts, together with these of then-candidate Joe Biden, Elon Musk and Invoice Gates, have been taken over by hackers who posted a rip-off asking for bitcoin.
