Everything you should know about Twitter's new CEO Parag Agrawal
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Monday announced he would be stepping down from his role and the company's Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal will fill in. Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 and in his new role, he will reportedly earn $1 million annually, excluding bonuses. Dorsey will, however, remain a board member until his term expires in 2022. Here's everything to know about Agrawal.
Why does it matter?
Dorsey had previously announced his resignation from Twitter in 2008, only to return in 2015. This time, the move could be permanent as Agrawal takes the helm. After a decade with the microblogging platform, Agrawal joins the league of Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai as yet another person of Indian origin who lead Big Tech companies.
Agrawal is an IITian with rich technological background
A visit to Agrawal's LinkedIn profile reveals that he is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, where he earned a degree in computer science engineering. He then spent seven years earning a PhD in the discipline at Stanford University. He interned at Microsoft, Yahoo, and AT&T before joining Twitter in 2011 "when there were fewer than 1,000 employees."
Dorsey says Agrawal has been 'behind every critical decision'
Agrawal worked as a distinguished software engineer at Twitter until 2017 when he was promoted to CTO post. Dorsey described Agrawal as "curious, probing, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware, and humble," in a letter about his resignation that he shared on Twitter. He added, "Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around."
Agarwal's salary as CEO will be $1 million, plus bonuses
Twitter's SEC filing revealed once Agrawal dons the CEO hat, he will earn $1 million as annual pay plus bonuses. He will also receive restricted stock units (RSUs) worth $12.5 million in 16 quarterly increments starting February 1, 2022, and performance-based RSUs in April. MoneyControl reported Agrawal received RSUs and PRSUs earlier this year, too. Meanwhile, Dorsey is leaving with his $1.40 annual pay.
Agrawal is S&P 500's youngest CEO by small margin
Although Twitter didn't divulge Agrawal's date of birth, it confirmed that he is younger than 1984-born Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. This makes him the world's youngest CEO in the S&P 500. Meanwhile, 91-year old Warren Buffett is the oldest on the list.
Agrawal has played pivotal role in Twitter's AI, ML advancements
Twitter's leadership page reveals that Agrawal played an instrumental role in the company's technical strategy advancing artificial intelligence and machine learning implementations and finding the leader for 2019's Project Bluesky. MarketWatch reported that Agrawal faces the daunting task of steering Twitter toward its goal of 315 million monetizable daily active users by 2023, and consequently double its revenue in that year.
