Twitter has lost a top level executive, COO Ali Rowghani, popularly known as "Mr. Fix It". A tweet from his account confirmed the departure.
Twitter, the popular micro-blogging social networking site, has lost a key executive amid the company's ailing efforts to attract new users in the U.S. Ali Rowghani, the chief operating officer, announced his departure from the company in a tweet, Thursday. His departure was also confirmed by Twitter in a regulatory filing, which also stated that the company has no plans to hire a replacement for the COO post.
In response to Rownghani's tweet, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo expressed his gratitude in a reply.
@ROWGHANI Thank you for being an incredible executive & partner. Twitter could not have succeeded without you.
— dick costolo (@dickc) June 12, 2014
Rowghani, who was called Twitter's "Mr. Fix It" by Wall Street Journal in April, was in charge of attracting more users toward its service. But the attempts have been dreary and the product innovation did not grab much attention. Moreover, the sale of a large stock by Rowghani contributed to the ongoing discussions whether the company needs a COO, sources told Re/Code.
Rowghani joined Twitter four years ago as the company's chief financial officer before he was promoted as the COO in 2012. His prior experience was at Pixar as the CFO. But according to Twitter, Rowghani will stay a part of the company in an advisory role even as he departs.
"Effective today, Ali Rowghani has resigned from his position as the Chief Operating Officer ("COO") of Twitter, Inc. ("Twitter"). Mr. Rowghani will continue to be a Twitter employee and act as a strategic advisor to the CEO. Twitter does not intend to hire a replacement for the COO role, and all of Mr. Rowghani's operating responsibilities will be assumed by other members of the Twitter management team," reads a regulatory filing dated June 12, 2014.
Rowghani's departure follows a string of high-profile exits, including Twitter's product chief, Michael Sippey, in January and Christopher Fry, the senior vice-president of engineering, in May.
