Twitter’s chief executive Dick Costolo has said he will step down on July 1.
As the company looks for a new CEO, chairman and cofounder Jack Dorsey will take over as interim chief executive.
The move comes as Twitter has been struggling to achieve the kind of grow investors had hoped.
In making the announcement, the company noted that Costolo will continue to serve on Twitter’s Board of Directors, and Dorsey will continue to serve as CEO of Square, Inc., the payments and financial services company he co-founded in 2009.
In a statement, Costolo said, “I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the Company. We have great leaders who work well together and a clear strategy that informs our objectives and priorities. There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition. He has a profound understanding of the product and Twitter's mission in the world as well as a great relationship with Twitter's leadership team. I am deeply appreciative of the confidence the Board, the management team and the employees have placed in me over the years, and I look forward to supporting Twitter however I can going forward.”
In another statement, Dorsey praised Costolo’s “dedication and vision” and thanks him for “his years of tireless devotion to building Twitter.”
Dorsey also noted that Costolo had put together a “world-class team…and created a great foundation from which Twitter can continue to change the world and grow. We have an exciting lineup of products and initiatives coming to market, and I look forward to continuing to execute our strategy while helping facilitate a smooth transition as the Board conducts its search.”
Twitter has formed a search committee for a permanent CEO, which will be chaired by the board’s Lead independent director, Peter Currie.
The search committee will also include Peter Fenton and Evan Williams.
In making the announcement, Twitter also reaffirmed its outlook for the second quarter of 2015.
That outlook includes revenue to range from $470 million to $485 million and adjusted EBITDA to be between $97 million to $102 million.
