Jack Dorsey announces exit as Twitter CEO; company stocks jump more than 10%

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey resigned as CEO of the huge social media platform.

Mr. Dorsey announced his resignation on Twitter on Monday and published a screenshot of an email to colleagues explaining his departure.

“I decided it’s finally time for me to leave. Why?” Mr. Dorsey said in the email. “There’s a lot of talk about the importance of a company being ’founder-led.’ Ultimately, I believe that’s severely limiting and a single point of failure. I’ve worked hard to ensure this company can break away from its founding and founders.”

Twitter’s stock jumped more than 10% at the market’s opening bell on Monday amid rumors of his departure, according to reports. Mr. Dorsey’s exit was first reported by CNBC.

Mr. Dorsey, who is also CEO of the digital payments company Square, has previously sought to put distance between himself and Twitter amid a crush of scrutiny from policymakers in the U.S. and around the world. In 2019, Mr. Dorsey announced on Twitter he intended to move to Africa, but he later changed those plans in 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak and the looming U.S. election.

Twitter’s approach to censorship and speech online inflamed criticism of its actions as influencing American politics. Twitter suspended accounts ranging from The New York Post to the Department of Homeland Security’s border chief in the days ahead of the 2020 election, and Mr. Dorsey later said such actions were mistakes during testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2020.

In 2021, Twitter banned former President Trump while he remained in office, and the company implemented a permanent ban against him. Mr. Trump then sued Twitter and Mr. Dorsey this year over allegations of a violation of the First Amendment through online censorship.

Tim Murtaugh, communications director for Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign, jeered Mr. Dorsey’s exit on Monday.

“BREAKING: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to step down to ‘pursue other opportunities’ to crush free speech in different venues,” Mr. Murtaugh said on Twitter.

Mr. Dorsey also announced that Twitter Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal would be Twitter’s incoming CEO. Mr. Dorsey said in a statement that Mr. Agrawal’s work at the company was “transformational” and added, “It’s his time to lead.”

Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Agrawal are planning to hold a meeting with Twitter employees to discuss the transition on Tuesday. Mr. Agrawal also sent an email to Twitter employees telling them he would take their questions during the meeting. 

“The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before,” said Mr. Agrawal in the email, which he published on Twitter. “Lots of people are going to have lots of different views and opinions about today’s news. It’s because they care about Twitter and our future, and it’s a signal that the work we do here matters.” 

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.