That is, unless you’re Jack Dorsey. Following this, the stock shot up 5.27%, and closed at $26.94 on Wednesday.
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A few analysts question how Dorsey will balance his responsibilities between the two companies.
Dorsey took over as Twitter’s interim CEO in July, replacing former stand-up comedian and veteran entrepreneur Dick Costolo.
Dorsey will continue to run digital payments service Square, which he founded about five years ago. The company are reportedly looking to attract new users with the feature, but there has been a mixed reaction from a few current tweeters, who fear that removing the constraint could turn Twitter into a duplicate of Facebook. Dorsey didn’t say his CEO role at Twitter couldn’t become permanent, he simply made it clear he would not leave the same position at Square.
Dorsey, 38, remained Twitter’s chairman and one of its largest shareholders with a 3 percent stake now worth about $600 million.
Several analysts published notes on Thursday morning, following a report in Recode that Dorsey’s appointment was imminent, praising Dorsey but flagging concerns about the dual CEO arrangement. Recently, Square also filed for an initial public offering (IPO).
The board has apparently also been considering Adam Bain, Twitter’s head of revenue and partnerships, though reports suggested he wouldn’t put himself forward for the job unless Dorsey stated he didn’t want it himself. A spokesman for Rizvi Traverse Management, which has investments in both companies, expressed confidence in Dorsey’s ability to serve as CEO for Twitter and Square simultaneously. It’s not the first time we’ve heard that we’re on the cusp of that announcement, but Wall Street is taking it more seriously this time around. “Twitter has failed to meet its own stated user growth expectations and has not been able to take advantage of the massive number of users who have signed up for accounts and then not come back”, wrote Chris Sacca, one of the Twitter’s biggest investors, in his memo earlier this year.
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While running Apple, Jobs also was CEO of computer animation pioneer Pixar until the company was sold to Disney in 2006.
