Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey resigns after 16 years

The CEO of the microblogging platform Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has resigned.

He announced his resignation on Monday, November 29, 2021, after 16 years of co-founding the social media company.

“I quit Twitter,” he wrote and posted a screenshot of his resignation letter sent to Twitter.
He also announced Parag Agrawal as his successor.

Dorsey has been off the books of the Nigerian government since October 2020, due to an allegation that he was complicit in promoting the EndSARS protests which resulted in the destruction of lives and billions of property in Nigeria. .

In June 2021, the regime of Nigerian President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired) suspended Twitter, citing “the continued use of the platform for activities that could undermine the existence of Nigerien businesses.” The federal government’s action follows the removal of a controversial civil war post by the president.

Buhari’s regime has since come under fire for what many have called a restriction on the right of expression. The international community, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, among others, had since hit the Buhari regime for action, but the federal government had been adamant in its position insisting on the fact that the sovereignty of the West African nation must be respected by the tech giant San Francisco.

Millions of content creators in Nigeria, who make a living from the microblogging site, have been affected because they are banned from using Twitter. Some of them have since embarked on a diversification journey while exploring other social media platforms.

Nigeria, with over 200 million inhabitants, had around 33 million active social media users as of January 2021. WhatsApp is the most popular platform used in the country, with over 90 million users according to Statista. Also according to Statista, around 61.4% of Nigerian social media users use Twitter, 86.2% use Facebook, 81.6% use YouTube, 73.1% use Instagram and 67.2% use Facebook Messenger.

His full resignation letter:
Hello team.
After almost 16 years in our company… from co-founder to CEO to president to executive chairman to interim CEO to CEO… I decided it was finally time for me to leave. Why?
There is a lot of talk about how important it is for a company to be “run by its founder”. I worked hard so that this company could break with its founder and its founders. There are 3 reasons why I think the time is right.

The first is that Parag becomes our CEO. The board of directors conducted a rigorous process considering all the options and unanimously nominated Parag. He was my choice for a while given how deeply he understands the business and its needs. Parag has been at the origin of every critical decision that has helped turn this business around. He is curious, in-depth, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware and humble. He leads with heart and soul, and he’s someone I learn with every day. My confidence in him as CEO runs deep.

The second is that Bret Taylor agrees to become our chairman of the board, I asked Bret to join our board when I became CEO, and he’s been excellent in every way. He understands entrepreneurship, risk taking, large scale business, technology, product, and he is an engineer. All 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 can’t imagine how much that makes me happy!

The third is all of you. We have a lot of ambition and potential in this team. Consider this: Parag started here as an engineer who cared deeply about our work and now he’s our CEO (I had a similar path as well… he did it better!). That alone makes me proud. I know Parag will know how to channel this energy better because he has lived it and knows what it takes. You all have the potential to change the course of this business for the better. I believe it with all my heart!
Parag is CEO as of today. I will be on the board throughout my tenure (in May) to help Parag and Bret with the transition. And after that… I’ll quit the board. Why not stay or become president? I think it’s really important to give Parag the space he needs to lead. And coming back to my previous point, I think it’s essential that a business can fend for itself, free from the influence or direction of its founder.

I want you all to know it was my decision and I take it for granted. It was hard for me, of course. I love this service and this company… and all of you so much. I am really sad… but really happy. There aren’t many companies that reach this level. And there aren’t many founders who choose their business over their own egos. I know we will prove it was the right decision.

We will have a general meeting tomorrow at 9:05 am PT to discuss all of this. Until then, thank you all for the trust you have placed in me and for the open-mindedness which has made it possible to build this trust in Parag and in yourselves. I love you all.