Twitter Inc. (TWTR) – Get Twitter, Inc. Report shares jumped higher Monday following reports that co-founder Jack Dorsey is preparing to step down as CEO of the micro-blogging website.
CNBC’s David Faber said the decision could be made public within the coming days, but did not indicate who might replace him. Reuters, citing sources, confirmed the plans and noted the board has settled on an unnamed successor.
Dorsey, 36, co-founded Twitter in 2006 but was forced out as CEO two years later. He was brought back in 2015, however, in a effort to re-boot growth — and tackle online abuse — amid the social media group’s growing global influence.
However, he has also served as CEO of payments group Square (SQ) – Get Square, Inc. Class A Report since 2009, raising questions as to how much time he is able to devote to the social media group amid the extraordinary growth in the payments sector.
Twitter shares were marked 5.9% higher in early trading immediately following the report to change hands at $49.81 each. Square shares were marked 0.2% lower at $211 each.
Last month, Twitter posted stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue growth of 37%, taking its ad sales to $1.14 billion, as the group appeared to avoid the worst of the impact of privacy changes in Apple Inc.’s AAPL new iOS update.
Monetizable active users, however, were pegged at 211 million for the quarter, just shy of analysts’ forecast of 212.6 million, with much of the growth coming from outside the United States.
Looking into the final months of the year, Twitter said it sees revenues in the region of $1.56 billion to $1.6 billion.
Read More: Twitter Stock Leaps Amid Report CEO Jack Dorsey Will Step Down