Jack Dorsey

WASHINGTON: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is expected to step down as the social media network's CEO, CNBC reported yesterday. Nasdaq suspended trading of Twitter yesterday amid news reports that Jack Dorsey would step down. Nasdaq cited "news pending" as the reason for the halt in trading.

The CNBC report cites unnamed sources and Twitter did not immediately reply to a request seeking comment. Dorsey is credited with coming up with the idea for Twitter when eventual co-founder Evan Williams gave workers at blogging startup Odeo two weeks to work on fun new projects as a way to break up the daily routine.

According to sources, Dorsey could announce his departure later. The source requested anonymity because the plans, first reported by CNBC, are not yet public. A Twitter spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Dorsey, who is also the chief executive of the payments company Square, was fired from the top job at Twitter in 2008 but returned in 2015.

His leadership has been questioned by employees and investors who believed that he was unfocused and spent too much of his time on Square and other passion projects. Other employees rallied around him during the 2020 attempt to force him out, using the hashtag #WeBackJack as a rallying cry. - Agencies