06/10/2015
Twitter gives co-founder Jack Dorsey a 2nd chance as CEO
Twitter Inc. is handing the chief executive reins back to Jack Dorsey, entrusting its founding architect to reassure investors and revive the service’s sagging user growth.
At the same time, Mr. Dorsey, 38 years old, will remain chief executive of Square Inc., the payments startup he co-founded after leaving Twitter in 2008. The fact that Mr. Dorsey plans to stay at Square is a turnabout by Twitter’s board, which early on in the search emphasized publicly that it was only interested in hiring a full-time CEO.
The board’s capitulation suggests both the difficulty it had in finding a suitable candidate to lead the struggling social-media company, as well as its desire to bring one of its co-founders back. Adding to the drama, Square, which is located a block away from Twitter, recently filed for an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. , who will relinquish his role as Twitter chairman, on a conference call Monday didn’t discuss his plans to split his time between Twitter and Square. Twitter declined to make him available for comment.
’s board had considered Adam Bain, a well-liked senior executive who runs the revenue-generating side of the company, said people familiar with the matter. Mr. Bain, 42, will instead become operating chief, Twitter said in a filing Monday announcing the leadership changes.