Twitter co-founder Williams steps down as CEO to focus on profitability

LONDON - The co-founder of the social networking site Twitter, Evan Williams, has stepped down as the CEO, with COO Dick Costolo taking over as the company’s new chief executive.

According to the BBC, Williams, who has headed the company since 2008, would now focus on “strategies” to make Twitter more profitable. Announcing the decision on Twitter’s blog, he said that the company needed to “meet its potential as a profitable company”.

In recent years, Twitter has grown tremendously, with user numbers now topping 160 million, a sharp contrast to only three million two years back.

Williams however stated that it was essential for the company to continue to be successful, which could be maintained only when it starts converting that growth into profit.

“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,” he said.

“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,” he added. (ANI)