Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO

Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey is stepping down as head of the social media company…

Dorsey, who is one of Twitter's co-founders, has faced criticism for juggling two CEO jobs in recent years – he is also chief executive at digital payments company Square.

Dorsey's departure marks the end of his second CEO stint at the social networking site, and he leaves at a time when Twitter has made headlines for its renewed pace of product launches, as it tries to catch up with larger rivals like Facebook and new social media apps such as TikTok.

Twitter announced Monday that Dorsey's time as its CEO will end immediately but he will stay on the board until his term expires in 2022.

Dorsey will be replaced by Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal, who has been with Twitter for more than a decade.

In a note to employees shared on Twitter, confirming his departure after a report on CNBC, Dorsey praised Agrawal saying " He's been my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around. My trust in him is bone deep."

The company's board has been preparing for Dorsey's departure since last year, a source told Reuters.

In early 2020, Dorsey faced calls from Elliott Management to step down, after the hedge fund argued he was paying too little attention to Twitter while also running Square.

Twitter's stock performance has also been a point of contention.

Shares of Twitter are down 10 percent year-to-date, while other social media stocks like Snap and Meta, formerly known as Facebook, have fared better.

But on Monday - shares of Twitter moved higher in early trading.

In perhaps a cryptic preview…Dorsey took to Twitter on Sunday and wrote simply: "I love Twitter". The likes on that tweet surged on Monday.