Twitter appoints Google’s former CFO as new Chairman

Twitter Inc said on Tuesday that it appointed Patrick Pichette, former chief financial officer at Google, as chairman, replacing Omid Kordestani.

Pichette has been the lead independent director on Twitter’s board since the end of 2018, and his appointment as chairman coincides with the microblogging site’s escalating tensions with President Donald Trump.

Republican Trump, who accuses social media firms of bias against conservatives, without evidence, stepped up his attacks on Twitter after the company put a fact-checking label on two of his tweets about mail-in ballots for the first time last week.

Later on Friday, Trump signed an executive order threatening Silicon Valley social media firms with new free speech regulations.

Twitter drew Trump’s ire again on Friday after it tagged one of his tweet on the Minneapolis protests as “glorifying violence”.

The company reached an agreement with Elliott Management in March, letting Jack Dorsey stay as chief executive officer, while adding three new directors, after Elliott’s plan to remove the social media company’s boss became public.

Twitter on Tuesday said Kordestani will remain on its board as a non-employee director.

Reuters