Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies throughout a distant video listening to held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, March 25, 2021.
CNBC
After setting formidable consumer development and income targets final month, Twitter is gearing up for what might be its most transformative interval ever.
After CEO Jack Dorsey’s management got here under scrutiny final 12 months by activist buyers, Twitter has ramped up its improvement of recent options, introducing quite a few modifications and gearing up for much more. This change comes as the corporate reels from the period of former President Donald Trump, who was lastly booted off of the service in January.
As it enters into a brand new stage, that is who leads Twitter in 2021.
Jack Dorsey: Founder and CEO
Despite being CEO, Dorsey usually comes off as checked out from Twitter. Blame his twin position 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 appears to be like, which embody 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.
People at Twitter say Dorsey is something however checked out. He is understood 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 staff at Obvious Corporation, the corporate that preceded it. Dorsey was Twitter’s authentic CEO however was compelled 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 firm’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 under fireplace in early 2020 when activist hedge fund Elliott Management initiated a marketing campaign to take away him as CEO. The problem was resolved when Twitter struck a take care of Elliott Management and Silver Lake, giving every funding agency a seat on the board.
Since then, Twitter has ramped up its product improvement, notably launching ephemeral Fleets in 2020 and testing a digital audio room function known as Spaces.
More importantly, the corporate final month announced ambitious goals of doubling its income to a minimum of $7.5 billion and hitting 315 million monetizable every day lively customers (mDAUs) by the tip of 2023.
Ned Segal: CFO
Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer, Ned Segal
John Chiala | CNBC
Unlike many CFOs, Segal is an lively chief for the corporate and one in every of its most outspoken executives. Segal is a standard presence at all-hands conferences, and externally, he is among the firm’s finest communicators, each on his Twitter account and at earnings and different firm occasions.
Prior 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 expertise with finance, expertise and the mixture of the 2 makes him a perfect tech CFO.
Segal might have most confirmed his value in 2020, taking part in a crucial position in brokering the deal with Elliott Management, a former worker stated.
Vijaya Gadde: Head of authorized, coverage and belief
Vijaya Gadde
Source: Twitter
As the best rating lady at Twitter, Gadde is answerable for dealing with among the firm’s most tough duties, together with authorized issues and something associated to public coverage and belief and security on the platform. That implies 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. In specific, Gadde has ramped up use of her Twitter account to announce and clarify the corporate’s choices concerning public coverage.
She performed an important position in figuring out what to do with the account of former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 rebellion on the U.S. Capitol. The firm in the end determined to permanently ban Trump.
Former staff say Gadde doesn’t have ultimate say on what the corporate decides to do with reference to its insurance policies. Dorsey retains that energy. But 99% of the time, Dorsey goes with Gadde’s suggestions, former staff stated.
Parag Agrawal: Chief expertise officer
Agrawal is one in every of Twitter’s prime tech executives. He is in control of technique involving synthetic intelligence and machine studying, in response to his bio.
Agrawal is main Project Bluesky, an unbiased effort to construct an open customary for social media. That means creating expertise and protocols that might enable content material posted on one social media service to work throughout a number of social networks, just like how emails will be learn by any e-mail service.
Bluesky is a precedence and visionary undertaking for Dorsey, former staff stated. That is why 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 firm has credited the modernization of its technical infrastructure because the catalyst behind the creation of recent options, like Fleets and Spaces.
Montano is Agrawal’s right-hand man, and now that the overhaul is completed, Montano is targeted on hiring extra skilled executives to guide 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 Images | TechCrunch
As product lead, Beykpour is in control of the technique and improvement of Twitter’s options and merchandise. he joined Twitter by way of the corporate’s 2015 acquisition of Periscope, an app that enables customers to livestream from their smartphones.
Under Beykpour’s management, Twitter has created among the most revolutionary product modifications in firm historical past.
The firm final 12 months launched Fleets, that are full-screen photos and movies that disappear from customers’ pages after 24 hours, very like Stories on Snapchat and Facebook‘s Instagram. The firm has additionally begun publicly testing Spaces, that are digital audio rooms the place customers can congregate for stay conversations, just like the favored app Clubhouse. Looking forward, Beykpour introduced that Twitter will start testing subscription options that can enable creators to put up unique content material for his or her paying followers.
Bruce Falck: Revenue product lead
While Beykpour leads the software program improvement of Twitter’s consumer merchandise, Falck is his counterpart for merchandise which can be utilized by entrepreneurs. His crew is tasked with creating the instruments that the corporate’s shoppers use to run adverts on Twitter and goal them to the service’s customers.
Falck’s crew just lately revamped Twitter’s cell software promotion. MAP is utilized by entrepreneurs to run direct-response adverts on Twitter, which is a pool of advert {dollars} that the corporate has barely tapped into. The output of Falck’s crew shall be essential to Twitter reaching its aim of doubling its annual income by the tip of 2023.
Matt Derella: Global VP, income and content material partnerships
While Falck makes the advert merchandise, Derella is the one who brings within the shoppers who use them. As Twitter’s clients lead, Derella heads the corporate’s customer-facing group, together with the gross sales group and the partnerships groups. Derella’s obligations embody arising with Twitter’s gross sales technique and bolstering income.
Dantley Davis: Head of design and analysis
Davis leads the crew that decides how the corporate’s merchandise look, and is answerable 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 stated. Before Twitter, Davis led product design for Facebook’s Stories, News Feed and video options, in response to his government bio. He beforehand labored at Netflix.
Leslie Berland: Chief advertising and marketing 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 Images Entertainment | Getty Images
The longest-tenured individual on the chief crew after Dorsey is Berland, who heads the corporate’s advertising and marketing and folks organizations, which incorporates communications, recruiting and human sources.
Berland usually makes the rounds as a spokeswoman for the corporate, attending numerous conferences. She can also be beloved by Dorsey, former staff stated.
Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko: Head of safety
The newest addition to Twitter’s government crew 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 initiatives at Google.
His hiring comes after Twitter endured an unprecedented hack in July, when lots of the most-followed accounts, together with these of then-candidate Joe Biden, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, had been taken over by hackers who posted a rip-off asking for bitcoin.