Hedge Fund Mogul Paul Singer Seeks to Oust Jack Dorsey as Twitter’s CEO

By Tom Roberts

Is Jack Dorsey on the way out as Twitter’s C.E.O.?

Some insiders say he may well be.

Hedge fund Elliott Management has recently purchased a large piece of Twitter, and is being loud in calling for the social network to make some changes.

The New York Times is reporting that a pair of insiders said that giving Dorsey the heave-ho is currently being discussed.

“Though Elliott has a number of concerns, its biggest is the fact that Mr. Dorsey currently is the chief executive title at both Twitter and another business he founded, the financial company Square, one of the people briefed on the matter said,” noted the Times. “Mr. Dorsey’s divided attention has been a longstanding area of concern for investors in the technology company, whose business and stock price have grown in recent years — but more slowly than its social media competitors.”

“Paul Singer, the billionaire founder of Elliott Management, is a Republican mega-donor who opposed Donald Trump during the real-estate magnate’s run for the presidential nomination but has since come onside,” reported theguardian.com. “After a White House visit in February 2017, Trump said Singer “was very much involved with the anti-Trump or, as they say, ‘Never Trump’, and Paul just left, and he’s given us his total support and it’s all about unification.”

In fact, Elliott Management Corp. has reportedly nominated four directors to the board at Twitter Inc.

Last November, Dorsey announced that he was intending to reside in Africa for anywhere from three to six months during 2020. “The announcement surprised executives at Twitter and angered investors frustrated with the company’s performance under the part-time CEO,” noted wsj.com. “Twitter’s shares and financial performance have long lagged behind its popularity and influence in culture and politics. Its market capitalization, at around $26 billion, is a fraction of that of rival social-media platform Facebook Inc.”

Dorsey and co-founder Jim McKelvey developed a small business platform to accept debit and credit card payments on a mobile device called Square, released in May 2010. The small, square-shaped device attaches to iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android devices via the headphone jack, and as a mini card reader, allows a person to swipe their card, choose an amount to transfer to the recipient and then sign their name for confirmation. Square is also a system for sending paperless receipts via text message or email, and is available as a free app for iOS and Android OS. On October 14, 2015, Square filed for an IPO to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As of that date, Dorsey owned 24.4% of the company.