NYU marketing professor and Twitter shareholder Scott Galloway (feature image) has called on the social media platform to remove “part-time CEO” Jack Dorsey.
In an open letter to Twitter’s board, Galloway outlined his “primary objective” to oust Dorsey from the company he created.
Pointing to Dorsey’s recently revealed plans to move to Africa for ‘three to six months’ next year and Twitter’s declined shareholder returns since 2015, Galloway – who owns more than 330,000 shares of Twitter stock – insisted “stakeholders deserve a board and CEO that command the opportunity Twitter occupies”.
“A part-time CEO who is relocating to Africa? Enough already,” Galloway said.
“It’s not Mr. Dorsey’s plans to move to Africa that constrain stakeholder value, but his plans to move back. Mr. Dorsey demonstrates a lack of self-awareness, indifference, and yogababble that have hamstrung stakeholder value.
“This is not Mr. Dorsey’s fault. After serving on seven consumer, media, and technology public company boards, my experience is that if you tell a thirty- or forty-something person, who regularly wears black turtlenecks, that they are Steve Jobs, they are inclined to believe you.
“The real culprit is directors who enable this reckless behaviour and render themselves flaccid fiduciaries for shareholders.”
Despite Twitter having recently banned political ads – a move Dorsey announced personally – Galloway was still critical of Dorsey’s approach to political discourse.
“The poor performance has been somewhat wallpapered over by President Trump,” Galloway said.
“His decision to communicate and govern via 280 characters creates a sugar high that masks the underperformance of management, and will not last. Few people have benefited more from Donald Trump’s election than Jack Dorsey.
“Twitter is mentioned 74 times in the Mueller Report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Yet Mr. Dorsey is moving to another continent during the heat of an election year?”
Dorsey is yet to respond to Galloway’s letter.
