Twitter has come to an agreement with activist investor Elliott Management, in which Jack Dorsey retains his position as CEO. This announcement represents a major victory for Bitcoin and the crypto community.
Dorsey To Remain CEO Amid Board Room Shakeup
Jesse Cohn, Elliott’s head of US activism, will immediately join Twitter’s board, along with Silver Lake co-Chief Executive, Egon Durban. A third independent director will be appointed later.
The board, along with its new members, will also form a committee to evaluate a succession plan with Dorsey and make recommendations on corporate governance. One potential change in the sights of the new committee is the removal of its staggered board, and it plans to share its findings by year end.
Equity firm Silver Lake will also invest $1 billion into the social media company under the terms of the agreement. Twitter plans to use this money to fund its first ever share buyback, set at $2 billion.
Dorsey: Overburdened or Coping Well?
As Bitcoinist reported last week, Elliott Management took a sizeable stake in Twitter, and put forward four nominees for the board of directors in a push for change, including potentially replacing Jack Dorsey as CEO.
Elliott founder, Paul Singer, was reportedly concerned about Dorsey dividing his attention between his roles as CEO of two publicly listed companies, Twitter and Square, along with his plans to spend up to six months a year in Africa, which he has since said he will reevaluate.
As part of today’s deal, Elliott Management and Silver Lake have signed a standstill agreement, ceasing any further push for Dorsey’s removal.
Patrick Pichette, lead independent director of Twitter’s board said that the temporary board committee will be created to build on the board’s usual ongoing assessment of its management structure, although he is “confident we are on the right path with Jack’s leadership.”
As a board, we regularly review and evaluate how Twitter is run, and while our CEO structure is unique, so is Jack and so is this company.
Dorsey Is Good For Bitcoin
Jack Dorsey has been a great advocate of Bitcoin and one of its most visible champions. Through its implementation in Square’s Cash app, he has created one of the simplest ways to buy and hold Bitcoin.
Twitter also funds a team of developers who are working purely on advancing the Bitcoin ecosystem. If Dorsey were to be removed as CEO of Twitter, the ramifications may lead to a slower or reduced adoption of Bitcoin.
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