Who Is Twitter's New CEO, Parag Agrawal?
Twitter is now under new leadership. On November 29, it was announced that founder Jack Dorsey would be stepping down as the company's CEO and handing the reins to CTO Parag Agrawal. It was a shocking announcement, to say the least — but after a rollercoaster journey, Dorsey is ready to move on.
In a statement, Dorsey discussed his departure and laid in the praise for incoming CEO Agrawal. "I've decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders," Dorsey stated (via PR Newswire), adding that, "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."
Per PR Newswire, the very popular and experienced Agrawal was unanimously elected to be Dorsey's successor by the Twitter Board. Dorsey's run as CEO (he began his second term in 2015) was mired in controversy throughout the frenetic Trump presidency, which ultimately culminated with the founder banning the former president from the social media platform. Now, greener pastures hopefully await Agrawal in his latest endeavor.
Parag Agrawal has an extensive background in technology
Parag Agrawal is no slouch. According to his LinkedIn, the hard-working India native has an extensive résumé in tech. A graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Agrawal began his career working for Microsoft in 2006. He soon found himself working at Yahoo! the year after, before returning to Microsoft in 2009. Following his second run at the tech giant, he worked for AT&T before landing at Twitter in October 2011.
If that wasn't impressive enough, Agrawal achieved all of his professional success while attaining a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University, where he studied from 2005 to 2012. Upon arrival at Twitter, he worked as a Distinguished Software Engineer until 2017 when he was promoted to Chief Technology Officer. Bret Taylor, Twitter's soon-to-be Independent Board Chair, praised Agrawal as well, stating (via PR Newswire), "Parag understands Twitter and appreciates the Company's unique potential. He has been instrumental in tackling our most important priorities, including accelerating our development velocity, and I know he'll hit the ground running to strengthen execution and deliver results," adding "The Board has the utmost confidence in Parag."
Agrawal thanked "the Board for their confidence in my leadership and Jack for his continued mentorship, support, and partnership," adding that he "[looks] forward to building on everything we have accomplished under [Jack Dorsey's] leadership" and expressed "deep gratitude" in a Twitter announcement.