Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey expected to step down, says report; stock jumps

Twitter Inc Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey will step down from his role, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Dorsey and Twitter's board have settled on his successor, the source said, without identifying the person by name.

The company's board has been preparing for Dorsey's departure since last year, the source added. The news comes as Twitter has accelerated the pace of its product innovation over the past year to compete with social media rivals such as Facebook Inc and TikTok, and to reach its goal of doubling annual revenue by 2023.

Shares of the microblogging platform surged 9% in early trading, while those of digital payments firm Square Inc, which is also helmed by Dorsey, were up 3%.

Twitter was not immediately available for comment. In his last tweet on Nov. 28, Dorsey had said: "I love twitter".

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

Dorsey fended off this pressure by giving Elliott and its ally, buyout firm Silver Lake Partners, seats on Twitter's board.