Twitter Replaces CEO, Ditches 140 Character DM Limit

Twitter has announced Jack Dorsey, who founded the company but since 2009 has been working at mobile payments firm Square, will be returning as CEO.

Dorsey will replace the incumbent Dick Costolo, who is stepping down as chief executive from July 1.

Proud

“I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the Company,” Costolo (pictured right) said in a statement, adding that there was ‘no one better’ than Dorsey to lead the company.

“I am deeply appreciative of the confidence the Board, the management team and the employees have placed in me over the years, and I look forward to supporting Twitter however I can going forward,” he added.

Shares in Twitter rose following the announcement, which came alongside the company’s financial outlook for the second quarter of 2015, where it said it expected revenues to be in the range of $470 million (£303m) to $485 million (£313m).

“The future belongs to Twitter thanks in large part to Dick Costolo’s dedication and vision,” said Dorsey, who will also continue in his role as Square CEO.

“Dick has put a world-class team in place and created a great foundation from which Twitter can continue to change the world and grow. We have an exciting line-up of products and initiatives coming to market, and I look forward to continuing to execute our strategy while helping facilitate a smooth transition as the Board conducts its search.”

No limits

Elsewhere, Twitter also announced it will be removing the 140-character limit on direct messages, sent privately between users to each other or larger groups.

The change, which will come into force from July 1, will not affect public tweets, but will allow direct messages to now be up to 10,000 characters long.

The news was revealed to developers overnight to allow third-party apps and APIs to update in time for the switchover date.

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