Twitter names Dorsey as permanent chief executive

The speculation over who would lead Twitter ended as the tech firm said cofounder Jack Dorsey would take the role on a permanent basis.

The move ends months of speculation over the company's future following the departure of Dick Costolo at the beginning of July. Mr Dorsey had been running the company on an interim basis. He was also chairman of the board, a role he will relinquish, but he will continue to serve on the board. Mr Costolo resigned from the board on September 30th.

The move marks the permanent return to the helm of the firm for Mr Dorsey, who was ousted from the CEO role in 2008. It is also a u-turn from Twitter’s previous position on the appointment of a new chief executive; it previously said the CEO job would be a full-time position, which seemed to exclude Mr Dorsey, who will remain as chief executive of mobile payments firm Square.

Twitter said there were no plans to provide Mr Dorsey with direct compensation for his role as CEO.

Square is set to file for an initial public offering in the coming weeks.

Despite concerns from investors about whether Mr Dorsey could run both firms, the company’s shares rose 3 per cent to $27.10 in premarket trading following the announcement.

Adam Bain, Twitter’s head of global revenue and considered a contender for the chief executive role, has been appointed chief operating officer.

Mr Dorsey is now faced with the task of boosting its user growth. According to it quarterly figures, its monthly average users grew at the slowest pace since the company went public in 2013. However, Mr Bain said the network’s reach was far greater, with a large number of users visiting Twitter’s “logged out” pages as the company expands partnerships with Google.

Among the new products announced since Mr Dorsey returned as chief executive is a widely available “buy now” button that allows users to make purchases directly through Twitter; Project Lightning, expected to roll out later this year and which would allow users to follow live events through selected tweets and photos; and a partnership with Square that lets users to make political donations through Twitter.

Additional reporting: Reuters