Technology

Jack Dorsey stays on as Twitter CEO in deal with investor firm

Twitter and activist investor firm Elliot Management have agreed on a deal that will see Jack Dorsey continue as the social media platform’s CEO.

The deal, announced Monday, has Twitter buy back $2 billion in shares and appoint two new board members, one from Elliot and one from equity firm Silver Lake, which is putting up $1 billion for the repurchases.

Twitter will also continue work to identify a third new independent director.

Monday’s deal follows reports that Elliot, which has a 4 percent stake in Twitter, was intent on forcing Dorsey out.

The firm’s criticism reportedly involved Dorsey’s dual role as CEO of Twitter and Square.

The agreement does not mean a leadership change isn’t coming down the line; both of the new members, Elliot’s Jesse Cohn and Silver Lake’s Egon Durban, will be part of a committee considering a “CEO succession plan.”

The new members released statements on Monday praising Dorsey. They will be joined on the CEO committee by three existing Twitter board members. The group is planning to publicly release findings and any recommendations by the end of the year.