Twitter’s changing things up in the company board room, swapping out two members of its eight-member board.
Since this is Twitter (TWTR), the news came, naturally, in a series of Tweets on Friday. And the tweeter-in-chief, CEO Jack Dorsey, says there are even more changes on the way for the company board, a team that’s been lambasted for lacking diversity:
More additions to the board soon, ones that will bring diversity and represent the strong communities on Twitter. This matters & is a must.
— jack (@jack) April 8, 2016
The new board members are Pepsi vice chairman and CFO Hugh Johnston, and Martha Lane Fox, the British internet entrepreneur who founded Lastminute.com. Fox is the second woman to join the board and she has championed women’s rights and social justice, launching the charity Go ON UK.
I'm joining the board of @twitter Thanks @jack @omidkordestani I can't wait. Best. Job. Ever. Watch out silicon valley:-))
— martha lane fox (@Marthalanefox) April 8, 2016
Johnston celebrated the news with his own very first Tweet:
Looking forward to partnering with @jack @omidkordestani and the @twitter Board to strengthen its power and impact.
— Hugh Johnston (@hughjohnston) April 8, 2016
The two new board members will replace current Twitter board members Peter Currie and Peter Chernin.
Currie is president of Currie Capital and a former CFO at Netscape, who advised Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook back in 2009. Chernin is the founder of the Chernin Group, which invests in media and entertainment, and is also on the board at American Express and Pandora.
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Both had amicable parting Tweets for Twitter:
I've been delighted to serve on @twitter's board with great colleagues. Congrats to @Marthalanefox & @hughjohnston on joining
— Peter Currie (@plscurrie) April 8, 2016
Privileged to have served on Twitter board for 3+years. Respect and support for @jack. Friendships and Twitter success will continue.
— Peter Chernin (@PeterChernin) April 8, 2016
The social media app’s been battling against the departures of top staff this year, paying out cash and stock bonuses in an effort to keep more employees around after four top executives left the company in January.
Twitter Shakeup Could Be Good News For Jack Dorsey:
It’s all part of Twitter’s big push to try to turn around its slow user growth and unimpressive stock market performance. Shares of Twitter were trading slightly higher on the news of a re-vamped board on Friday morning.
