Two of Twitter’s co-founders are switching places.
Left, Peter DaSilva for The New York Times; Jin Lee/Bloomberg News
Evan Williams, left, and Jack Dorsey founded Twitter with Biz Stone in 2006.
Jack Dorsey, who has been on Twitter’s board but not involved in daily operations, said on Monday that he was returning to the company as head of product development. (We reported on those negotiations last week.) Evan Williams, who has been overseeing product development, has stepped back from working at Twitter on a daily basis, though he will remain on the board, according to a company statement.
The switch comes at a crucial time for Twitter, as it works to turn its astonishingly fast growth into a profitable business. It has been searching for another executive to lead product design since Jason Goldman, a longtime colleague of Mr. Williams who oversaw product at Twitter, left late last year.
The relationship between the two co-founders has been tense at times. Mr. Williams pushed out Mr. Dorsey as chief executive in 2008. Mr. Dorsey started a new company, Square, which turns cellphones into credit card readers. He will remain chief executive there.
Mr. Williams, meanwhile, has been spending less time in the office and long periods in Tahoe, where he is mulling a new start-up idea, according to several people with internal knowledge of the goings-on at Twitter. Though Mr. Williams has led several companies, he has said that he is most passionate about building new products.
Mr. Dorsey’s title will be executive chairman, according to the company. “Twitter’s three co-founders — Ev Williams, Biz Stone and Jack — have unselfishly played whatever role was most needed at the time to nurture the company and help the product reach its full potential,” the company said in a statement.
Fittingly, Mr. Dorsey confirmed the news Monday in a post on Twitter. “Today I’m thrilled to get back to work at @Twitter leading product as executive chairman. And yes: leading @Square forevermore as C.E.O.,” he wrote.
People who have worked with Mr. Dorsey, who came up with the idea for Twitter, say he has an uncanny eye for technology product innovations. Less clear is how he will find the time to play senior roles at both fast-growing companies.
© 2011nytimes.com
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