TWITTER NAMES GOOGLE VETERAN OMID KORDESTANI AS CHAIRMAN

Twitter Inc. named Omid Kordestani, once deemed Google Inc.’s “business founder” by search giant co-founder Larry Page, to the role of executive chairman as the social-media company struggles to reverse slowing growth.

Kordestani, a former chief business officer at Google, will have an operational role at Twitter, helping with recruiting and strategy, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based company said Wednesday.

Following investor criticism, Twitter is working to improve its product, making it easier for casual users--among them Kordestani--to stay active and find helpful content. Before Wednesday, he had tweeted only eight times through the @omidkordestani account created in 2010. 

Kordestani joined Google in 1999 to craft its business plan and run sales. He helped build the company’s advertising business and was named chief business officer in July of last year.

“There is nothing Omid doesn’t know about Google, our customers and partners,” Pagesaid in a post at the time, calling Kordestani “our business founder.”

Succeeding Dorsey

Kordestani is taking the post that Jack Dorsey vacated when he was named chief executive officer last week. The appointment was just the latest significant move since Dorsey officially became CEO Oct. 5. Twitter said Tuesday it would cut more than 300 jobs, or about 8 percent of its workforce. Last week, the company introduced Moments, a long-awaited product intended to make Twitter easier for casual users to understand.

Kordestani, Google’s 11th employee, is leaving behind $115 million in equity awards at the company, according to a regulatory filing. The search giant had granted Kordestani 225,588 restricted Class C shares that vest over time, after he was named business chief last summer. He returned 84 percent of them on Sept. 30. The remainder had vested, and were worth $23.5 million at Tuesday’s close. 

“A great chairperson is the first step towards continuing to make our board one of the best in the world, and purpose-built to serve Twitter,” Dorsey said on Twitter.

Twitter shares fell 2.1 percent to $28.47 at 10:52 a.m. in New York. The stock had climbed as much as 2.4 percent after the appointment was announced before tracking a decline in the broader market.

source: Bloomberg