Twitter Stock Responds to News of Permanent CEO

Twitter stock (NYSE:TWTR) has experienced a marked decline in the past six months, with investors responding negatively to the company’s precarious leadership situation.
However, Jack Dorsey was announced as the company’s new CEO on Monday, and many believe Twitter stock’s fortune may be set to change as a result.

Dorsey takes helm; Twitter stock rises

According to Twitter’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Dorsey was appointed CEO on September 30. Dorsey, a co-founder of the company, has always maintained a prominent role in the Twitter community, and had acted as the company’s interim CEO since July 2015. 
Dorsey has also been chairman of the board at Twitter since October 2008 (a position that he will step down from now that he is CEO), and prior to that had been a board member since May 2007. From May 2007 to October 2008 Dorsey was Twitter’s president and CEO as well.
All in all, investors appear to have taken the news of Dorsey’s appointment well. Twitter stock closed Monday at $28.16, up 7.03 percent. While it’s still down 21.52 percent year-to-date there is hope that the installation of a permanent CEO may bring more stability to the company.

Other shifts at Twitter

Also included in the filing is the news that Adam Bain has been appointed Twitter’s new COO. He was previously president, global revenue & partnerships at the company, having begun that role in September 2010.
Previously, Bain was employed at the diversified media company News (NASDAQ:NWSA), where he acted as executive president of products & technology, and as president of its advertising division.

What about Square?

While Dorsey’s appointment as Twitter CEO may bring stability to that company, some are concerned that it may bring instability to Square, a payments and financial services company where he is also co-founder and CEO. It is headed for an IPO and should be unveiling a S-1 filing soon.
Commenting on that concern, Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente told The Wall Street Journal that “the notion that Jack Dorsey would serve as CEO of two public companies gives us pause.” Meanwhile, an article on re/code states that the three questions that have to be answered are: “how will Dorsey’s role at Twitter affect Square’s IPO,” “who’s really running Square” and “why doesn’t Dorsey leave his position as CEO at Square?” 
Square’s head of communications, Aaron Zamost, told re/code, “Jack has never wavered from his commitment to leading Square as CEO. As a leader who sets our strategy and aligns us all to a common purpose, Jack has built a deep bench of talented senior executives to help execute on that vision. And as he has shown for the past several months, he has the ability, passion and commitment to lead both companies effectively.”
Only time will tell if Dorsey truly is capable of leading two public companies effectively.