On November 29, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey announced his resignation, ending his 16-year stint with the social media company. Twitter’s chief technical officer, Parag Agrawal, has been unanimously appointed as his replacement by the company’s Board of Directors.
Dorsey’s resignation, which has been in place since 2015 as Twitter’s CEO, will take effect immediately. He will, however, remain a member of the Board of Directors until roughly May 2022 to ensure a smooth transition.
“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I feel the company is ready to transition away from its founders,” Dorsey said in a statement.
The 45-year-old outgoing CEO expressed confidence in his replacement, Agrawal, who joined Twitter in 2011 and was named CTO in 2017.
“My faith in Parag as Twitter’s CEO is solid. His work over the last decade has been transformative. I’m grateful for his talent, passion, and soul. It is now his turn to lead “Dorsey stated.
Prior to joining Twitter, Agrawal worked for prominent US firms such as Yahoo, Microsoft, and AT&T Labs. Between 2006 and 2010, he worked temporarily with these firms’ research teams.
In terms of education, Agrawal earned degrees in B.Tech, Computer Science, and Engineering from IIT Bombay, one of India’s top schools. He later earned a PhD in Computer Science from California’s famed Stanford University.
As Twitter’s CTO, Agrawal was in charge of the microblogging site’s technical strategy, leading projects to increase development velocity and advance the company’s machine learning state.
Prior to being named CTO, Agrawal was named Twitter’s first Distinguished Engineer for his work in revenue and consumer engineering. Among his accomplishments is the re-acceleration of audience growth in 2016 and 2017.
In a statement made shortly after his appointment as CEO, Agrawal expressed gratitude to Dorsey for the “mentorship” he has received over the previous decade.
“I am honoured and humbled. And I’m grateful for your continued mentorship and your friendship. I’m grateful for the service that you built, the culture, soul, and purpose you fostered among us and for leading the company through really significant challenges,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Twitter, in addition to Agrawal’s appointment as the new CEO, announced that Bret Taylor, a member of the company’s Board since 2016, has been named the Independent Chair of the Board with immediate effect.