Twitter CEO Dick Costolo announced Thursday that he is stepping down from his post as the company faces criticism over its inability to attract advertisers and its slow user growth compared to its competitors.
The decision to leave the post was made by Costolo himself, almost following a trend that he started last year, when he replaced much of Twitter's top management team, The New York Times reported.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of the social networking website, will serve as a temporary replacement
The change in leadership is not new to Twitter, as it has already experienced a number of shake-ups since the company was founded. Jack Dorsey and fellow co-founder Evan Williams both served as CEO for the company before Costolo took on the position, according to Reuters.
Nate Elliott, a management consultant at Forrester Research, said that the stepping down of the CEO was to be expected.
"Unfortunately this news isn't surprising," Elliot said. "The bottom line is that Twitter isn't very good right now at serving either its users or its marketers."
Costolo has led Twitter for the last five years. A wealthy former entrepreneur, he had grown tired of second-guessing Wall Street and its focus on the company's sluggish user growth and its inability to make its products more appealing, according to The New York Times. He has previously stated that he does not need the aggravation anymore.
Costolo described the circumstances revolving around the change in leadership in a call to his investors.
"There is never, ever the right time to begin a transition like this," he said, adding, however, that "you want to do these things when the org is stable and the product is robust."
Twitter shares rose by 3.6 percent after the announcement, up to $37.17 per share, Reuters reported.
