Twitter co-founder Ev Williams quits as CEO

Twitter, the microblogging site that acts as the globe’s stream of consciousness, has lost another CEO. Co-founder Evan Williams, better known as @Ev, has stepped down from the role a mere two years after taking over from Jack Dorsey, another co-founder. Williams’s replacement will be Dick Costolo, who joined Twitter as chief operating officer a year ago.
 
The move has raised more than a few eyebrows in Silicon Valley as rumours of a rift between the pair have been doing the rounds for some time. Costolo is believed to have the backing of Twitter’s board, who want to see the site’s success translated into a lucrative revenue stream and believe he is the man to do it.
 
Costolo is said to be the man charged with the task of developing advertising for Twitter’s 160 million user base.
 
Writing on his blog yesterday, Ev said: “I am most satisfied while pushing product direction. Building things is my passion… This is why I have decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter’s CEO. Starting today, I’ll be completely focused on product strategy.”
 
But insiders suggest Costolo had been keen to land the CEO role and since his appointment had been treading on Ev’s turf by stepping into duties reserved for him.
 
Indeed, Costolo’s first ever tweet as COO was “Task #1: undermine CEO, consolidate power” – a joke, certainly, but one that might have had a hint of truth beneath it.
 
Costolo is reportedly keen to take Twitter public and make full use of its billion-dollar evaluation. Google is also seen as an ideal suitor for the website – a route with which Costolo is familiar, having sold FeedBurner, a web service he founded, to the online giants in 2007 for a cool $100million. It is said he regrets that move and this time wants to go down the route of a stock market flotation. ·