NEW YORK (1010 WINS/KMOX) -- Twitter confirmed on Monday morning that Jack Dorsey will step down as CEO and that the Board of Directors has "unanimously appointed" Parag Agrawal as CEO and a member of the Board, effective immediately.
Dorsey, 45, was born in St. Louis and attended Bishop DuBourg High School. He founded the social media giant in 2006, after a brief stint at the Missouri University of Science and Technology then transferring to New York University.
Dorsey, 45, will remain a member of the Board until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders.
"I've decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders," Dorsey said in a statement. "My trust in Parag as Twitter's CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational. I'm deeply grateful for his skill, heart, and soul. It's his time to lead."
Twitter stock jumped more than 11% in trading when the news broke Monday morning.
Dorsey also serves as CEO of his digital payments company Square.
Twitter has faced some criticism from politicians recently. Former President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, with Dorsey defending the move, saying the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Trump’s tweets after the event resulted in a risk to public safety and created an “extraordinary and untenable circumstance” for the company. Trump sued the company, along with Facebook and YouTube, in July for alleged censorship.
Related
Bret Taylor was named the new Chairman of the Board, succeeding Patrick Pichette who will remain on the Board and continue to serve as chair of the Audit Committee.
Agrawal has been with Twitter for more than a decade and has served as Chief Technology Officer since 2017.
Nasdaq suspended trading of Twitter shares around 10:25 a.m. Monday, about an hour after CNBC's report dropped about Dorsey's expected resignation from his executive role at the social media company.
CNBC initially reported news of Dorsey's impending departure less than two hours before Twitter confirmed it.
© 2021 KMOX (Audacy). All rights reserved
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Follow KMOX
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram