Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey will step down from his position and a successor has been lined up, an individual acquainted with the matter instructed Reuters. The firm’s board has been making ready for Dorsey’s departure since final 12 months, the supply mentioned. The information comes as Twitter has accelerated the tempo of its product innovation over the previous 12 months to compete with social media rivals reminiscent of Facebook and TikTok, and to achieve its aim of doubling annual income by 2023.

Twitter was not instantly accessible for remark.

Shares of the microblogging platform surged 9 p.c in early buying and selling, whereas these of digital funds agency Square, of which Dorsey can also be chief govt, have been up 3 p.c.

Trading within the shares was then suspended forward of an anticipated announcement.

In his newest tweet on November 28, Dorsey mentioned: “I love twitter”. The “likes” on that tweet surged to greater than 54,000 on Monday.

CNBC was first to report Dorsey’s transfer.

In early 2020, Dorsey confronted calls from Elliott Management Corp to step down, after the hedge fund argued that he was paying too little consideration to Twitter whereas additionally operating funds processing firm Square Inc.

Dorsey fended off the strain by giving Elliott and its ally, buyout agency Silver Lake Partners, seats on Twitter’s board.

© Thomson Reuters 2021