Twitter just can’t keep its executives from flying the coop.
On Dec. 20, chief technology officer Adam Messinger became the latest high-profile exec to leave the San Francisco-based social network. In his five-year run with Twitter, Messinger was charged with overseeing three crucial departments: product, engineering, and design.
He’s hardly the first to peace out. Over the past year, Twitter has lost a large chunk of its leadership team: In January, global media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, product head Kevin Weil, human resources chief Brian “Skip” Schipper, and engineering head Alex Roetter all quit their posts. So did Jason Toff, general manager of soon-to-be-defunct Vine. More recently, chief operating officer Adam Bain ended his six-year stint with the company in November, and VP of product Josh MacFarland stepped down this week. Twitter has also lost its head of global business development; head of corporate and policy communications; managing director for Australia, India head; managing director for Southeast Asia, Middle East, and India; and head of business development and platform partnerships for south Asia.
The mass exodus puts the reins of the company even more firmly in the hands of CEO Jack Dorsey, who said in a statement this week that he would be “working even closer with our engineering and design teams to ensure we continue to be the fastest and best service to show what’s happening in the world.” As potential buyers remain elusive, Twitter continues to struggle with growing revenue and expanding its user base.
Here’s a handy guide to Twitter’s 2016 defectors, in the style of “American Idol contestant progress chart.”
KEY: ✅= still around, ❌= left, ➖= wasn’t at the company/did not hold a leadership position
If the resignations keep up in 2017, Dorsey may find himself running a one-man operation. Which is sort of like winning a talent competition…if you hadn’t hired all the talent.