Twitter CEO Costolo Steps Down Amid Investor Pressure

After months of investor speculation that Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) CEO Dick Costolo was on his way out, the company confirmed on Thursday that a management change will be effective July 1. Costolo will step down as current CEO, but will remain on the board. The company’s shares were up 6% in after-hours trading following the news.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who is currently the CEO of Square, will return to Twitter as interim CEO. Dorsey will remain at the helm at Square as a search committee looks for Twitter’s next CEO.

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Twitter, which went public in 2013, has seen its shares rise and fall. Thursday’s close of $35.83 is well beneath the $44.90 close on its first day of trading.

Shares of Twitter took a dive following first quarter earnings results, as the company fell short of Wall Street’s revenue expectations. Early investor Chris Sacca recently sounded the alarm bells with his 8,500 word note with recommendations for Twitter.

The Search Committee for Twitter’s permanent CEO will be run by Peter Currie, Peter Fenton and co-founder Evan Williams. An executive search firm will assist in the “global search” and will consider “both internal and external candidates.”

“I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the company,” said Costolo in a statement. “There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition.”

The company will be holding a conference call at 2:15pm PT to further address the management changes.