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Twitter CEO steps down
Tue, 5th Oct 2010
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Have the headaches of being the CEO of a major social media company got the better of Twitter co-founder Evan Williams (pictured)? That’s what everyone’s talking about, following the news that Williams has stepped down.

“The challenges of growing an organisation so quickly are numerous,” blogged Williams. “Growing big is not success, in itself. Success to us means meeting our potential as a profitable company that can retain its culture and user focus while having a positive impact on the world. This is no small task. I frequently reflect on the type of focus that is required from everyone at Twitter to get us there.”

Last month Twitter began the rollout of new features.

“This led to a realisation as we launched the new Twitter,” Williams continued. “I am most satisfied while pushing product direction. Building things is my passion, and I’ve never been more excited or optimistic about what we have to build.

“This is why I have decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter’s CEO. Starting today, I’ll be completely focused on product strategy.”

Williams added, “When I insisted on bringing Dick into the COO role a year ago, I got a lot of questions from my board. But I knew Dick would be a strong complement to me, and this has proven to be the case. Given Dick’s track record as a three-time successful CEO, I’m confident we can make this a smooth transition.”

You can read the full blog post here.