In September 2010, co-founders Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey and Twitter's board were in a tense tussle about who should run the fast-growing microblogging site. Williams was CEO at the time, while Dorsey was a silent chairman and Costolo was chief operating officer.
Williams took a long time to make decisions, and Dorsey was using that as leverage with investors and the board to try to oust him as CEO, according to the book, Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal, which will be published next month.
Twitter declined to comment on the account.
At a tense Twitter board meeting in September 2010, Bill Campbell, who had been brought in as an adviser, slapped his hand on the table and said that it was Costolo who was to be fired, according to the book.
One board member suggested they talk about it more, but Campbell reminded everyone that they were running a start-up, then went downstairs and fired Costolo to his face, the book says.
Costolo asked Campbell whether he was joking. Campbell told Costolo to contact Twitter's lawyers to arrange severance, then left the room.
Costolo wrote an e-mail asking what his severance package would be. But the board swiftly reversed the decision and told Costolo that he still had a job.
By Oct. 4, 2010, the tables had turned dramatically, and Williams was out and Costolo was in as CEO, according to the book.
Since that chaotic time, Costolo's steady hand as CEO has helped Twitter grow into a social-media phenomenon that is on course for a $1 billion IPO in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment