Twitter, Inc.

Twitter, Inc.

File:Twitter logo 2021.svg Logo used until 2023 rebranding
Company type	Public (until 2022), then private
Industry	Social media
Founded	March 21, 2006 (2006-03-21) in San Francisco, California, U.S.
Founder	Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Evan Williams
Defunct	April 2023 (2023-04)
Fate	Merged into X Corp.
Headquarters	San Francisco , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Elon Musk (CEO from 2022)
Products	Twitter (X), Vine (discontinued), Periscope (discontinued)
Number of employees	~1,000 (2023)
Website	twitter.com

Twitter, Inc. was a US-based social media enterprise headquartered in San Francisco, California, primarily recognized for its main social networking platform, Twitter, which was later rebranded as X. The firm also managed the short-form video application Vine and the live streaming platform Periscope, both of which have since been discontinued. In April 2023, Twitter merged into X Holdings, dissolving its status as an independent company and becoming part of X Corp..

The company was established in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, with Twitter officially launching in July 2006. By 2012, the platform had amassed over 100 million users who produced approximately 340 million tweets each day. Twitter went public in November 2013 and reported more than 330 million monthly active users by 2019.

On April 25, 2022, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, agreed to acquire Twitter for $44 billion, marking one of the most significant tech privatizations. Although Musk initially attempted to terminate the agreement in July 2022—prompting legal action from Twitter's board—he finalized the acquisition on October 27 at the initial price of $54.20 per share.

Following the takeover, Twitter encountered criticism regarding a rise in hate speech and an increased emphasis on right-wing content. Musk’s ownership triggered major policy revisions, extensive workforce reductions that brought staff numbers down to roughly 1,000 employees by 2023, and a notable shift in corporate culture.

From a financial perspective, Twitter generated $5.1 billion in revenue during 2021 but recorded operating losses and negative net income for that year. Prior to its absorption into X Corp., the company operated globally with a strategic focus on growing its presence within the social media sector.

2006–2007: Formation and early developments

Twitter emerged from a focused "daylong brainstorming session" among board members of the podcasting firm Odeo. At that time, Jack Dorsey, then a student at New York University, proposed creating an SMS-based service designed for communication within small groups. Development commenced in February 2006. On March 21, 2006, Dorsey published the inaugural tweet: "just setting up my twttr". The initial prototype, developed by Dorsey alongside contractor Florian Weber, served as an internal tool exclusively for Odeo employees. The publicly accessible full version was launched on July 15, 2006.

In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Dorsey, and others established Obvious Corporation and acquired Odeo along with its assets, including Twitter. Subsequently, Twitter was spun off as a separate entity in April 2007. Co-founder Noah Glass was later dismissed by Williams and remained largely silent about his involvement until 2011.

Twitter gained significant traction during the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference when the daily tweet volume increased from 20,000 to 60,000. The company enhanced its visibility by installing large screens displaying live tweets throughout the event venue. This strategic move resulted in widespread acclaim and expanded market influence. Industry analysts recognized Twitter’s prominent presence at SXSWi as a pivotal moment in its commercial expansion.

2007–2022: Expansion

In April 2012, Twitter inaugurated an office in Detroit to engage with automotive companies and advertising firms, simultaneously enlarging its Dublin location. By September 2011, the platform had reached 100 million active monthly users, and by December 2012, this figure had doubled to over 200 million.

The company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on November 7, 2013. In September 2016, Twitter’s stock price jumped by 20% amid acquisition interest from prominent corporations such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Verizon, and The Walt Disney Company. Although the board showed willingness to entertain a sale, all interested parties withdrew by October due to apprehensions regarding platform misuse and harassment issues.

June 2017 saw Twitter update its dashboard to improve user interaction. In April 2021, the company launched its African regional headquarters in Ghana, signaling an important step in its international growth strategy.

In January 2022, Twitter divested its MoPub advertising division to AppLovin for $1.05 billion, marking a strategic shift toward concentrating on core offerings and services.

Elon Musk’s Acquisition

In April 2022, entrepreneur Elon Musk acquired a 9.1% share of Twitter for $2.64 billion, causing the stock to soar by 27%, the largest intraday increase since its IPO in 2013. Musk joined Twitter’s board under terms limiting his stake to 14.9%. Shortly thereafter, he proposed an unsolicited $44 billion bid to privatize the company, citing concerns about management effectiveness and content moderation policies affecting free speech. To counter this hostile bid, Twitter’s board implemented a "poison pill" defense.

By April 20, Musk had secured $46.5 billion in financing, leading the board to accept his offer on April 25. In July, Musk sought to withdraw from the agreement, alleging Twitter violated contractual terms regarding spam bot data and executive terminations. Chair Bret Taylor and the board pledged legal measures to enforce the acquisition. On July 12, Twitter initiated a lawsuit compelling Musk to complete the transaction. Shareholders approved the takeover on September 13.

In October 2022, Musk consented to proceed at the original price of $54.20 per share. The deal finalized on October 27 through a merger with Musk-controlled entities, valuing Twitter at approximately $44 billion. Following completion, Musk dismissed several senior executives as he took control.

By January 2023, Twitter's employee count had plummeted from about 7,500 pre-acquisition to roughly 2,300 staff members total, including fewer than 550 full-time engineers. By April, active personnel fell below 1,500—a reduction of nearly 80% within one year. Musk claimed that despite these reductions, Twitter was nearing financial break-even.

Developments After Acquisition

On October 28, immediately after acquiring Twitter, Musk terminated CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal. Trading of Twitter shares was suspended before the New York Stock Exchange opened the following day and officially delisted on November 8. On October 31, Musk dissolved the board of directors and assumed the CEO position himself. In January 2023, he dismissed an employee who publicly criticized him.

On November 4, approximately half of Twitter’s workforce—around 3,750 employees—were laid off, leaving critical departments such as communications and engineering understaffed. Subsequently, some employees were rehired after being mistakenly terminated. Multiple current and former employees filed lawsuits alleging violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 due to inadequate notice before mass layoffs.

Several top executives overseeing security, compliance, content moderation, and sales resigned following demands from Musk for extended working hours or resignation. On November 16, Musk issued a mandate requiring remaining staff to commit to “long, intense hours,” which led many employees to depart. Reports indicated that essential engineering teams nearly entirely resigned, raising concerns about operational continuity.

Within days of Musk's takeover and ensuing internal disruptions, major advertisers like General Mills, Pfizer, Volkswagen, and General Motors paused their advertising campaigns. Advertising agencies including IPG and Omnicom advised clients to suspend spending over brand safety worries amid increased hate speech and impersonator accounts caused by verification errors. Musk acknowledged experiencing a “massive drop in revenue,” attributing daily losses of $4 million to activist pressure on advertisers.

A November 2022 analysis by Media Matters for America revealed that Twitter lost half of its top hundred advertisers—who collectively spent $750 million in ads during that year. According to Standard Media Index data, advertising expenditures declined by 55% year-over-year in November and plummeted by 71% in December despite typically strong holiday ad spending.

By December 2022, Musk’s family office was reportedly seeking new investors willing to invest at his initial acquisition price of $54.20 per share amid ongoing user dissatisfaction, advertiser withdrawals, and looming debt obligations. Negotiations aimed at raising up to $3 billion were said to be underway to alleviate $13 billion in bank debt incurred during the acquisition; however, Musk denied these reports. By October 2023, seven major banks involved in financing faced challenges selling down their exposure due to weak investor interest and anticipated markdowns exceeding 15%.

In April 2023 under Musk’s leadership, Twitter designated NPR as "US state-affiliated media," a label traditionally reserved for foreign government outlets such as Russia’s RT or China’s Xinhua. This decision sparked controversy and accusations of bias favoring the Republican side; NPR’s CEO publicly condemned it as unacceptable.

Twitter was merged with X Corp. in April 2023. Nearly two years later in March 2025, X Corp. combined with Musk’s startup xAI.

X (formerly Twitter)

Originally known as Twitter until its rebranding in 2023, X was a prominent American social networking platform. It allowed users to post concise messages, images, and videos through "tweets," while engaging with content via likes and retweets. This platform formed a crucial element of the company’s product offerings and market presence.

Vine

Twitter acquired Vine, a startup focused on short looping videos, in October 2012 and launched it as an independent application in January 2013. Vine enabled users to produce and share six-second videos that looped continuously, seamlessly integrating with Twitter’s timeline to boost user interaction and content variety. However, by October 2016, Twitter stopped accepting new video uploads on Vine, limiting the service to viewing and downloading until its archive was fully discontinued in April 2019. This decision aligned with Twitter’s shifting strategic priorities toward core business areas.

Periscope

Twitter purchased Periscope, a live streaming video application, on March 13, 2015, with the app debuting shortly after on March 26 of the same year. Due to waning user engagement, high operational expenses, and realignment of product focus, Twitter terminated Periscope on March 31, 2021. Nonetheless, previously broadcasted Periscope videos remain accessible through Twitter itself, and many features have been integrated into Twitter’s primary platform.

Crashlytics and Fabric

In January 2013, Twitter made its largest acquisition at the time by purchasing Crashlytics—a crash reporting tool for developers—for over $100 million. Following the acquisition, Twitter committed to expanding Crashlytics’ capabilities.

October 2014 saw the launch of Fabric by Twitter: a modular toolkit for mobile developers centered around Crashlytics. Fabric combined several services including Crashlytics for crash reporting, Answers for analytics, Beta for app distribution, Digits for identity management, along with MoPub and TwitterKit—all unified within one SDK. This approach capitalized on Crashlytics’ widespread adoption to accelerate growth for MoPub and TwitterKit. Within eight months of release, Fabric was deployed on more than one billion devices.

By early 2016, Fabric had surpassed installation on two billion devices and was utilized by over 225,000 developers worldwide. It was recognized as the leading crash reporting and mobile analytics solution among top iOS applications, outperforming competitors such as Google Analytics and Mixpanel. In January 2017, Google acquired Fabric from Twitter and incorporated it into its Firebase developer platform.

Revue

Founded in the Netherlands in 2015, Revue was a newsletter service designed to help writers create email newsletters with options for free or paid subscriptions. Twitter acquired Revue on January 26, 2021, broadening its offerings in the newsletter sector. However, on January 18, 2023, Twitter discontinued Revue and deleted all associated user data.

Acquisitions

Twitter has executed an assertive acquisition approach to strengthen its business model and increase market share. Notable acquisitions include:

- April 2010: Atebits, creators of the Tweetie app for Mac and iPhone. - January 2013: Crashlytics to enhance mobile developer tools. - August–September 2013: Trendrr and MoPub to expand capabilities in social data analytics and mobile advertising. - June 2014: Namo Media (specializing in native ads) and SnappyTV (video editing and sharing), supporting the Amplify program tailored for broadcasters. - July 2014: CardSpring enabled retailers to link coupons with credit cards for in-store discounts; Mitro focused on password security solutions. - October 2014: Formed a partnership with IBM to utilize Twitter’s data analytics for enterprise clients. - February 2015: Niche—a $50 million influencer advertising network connecting brands with social media creators. - April 2015: TellApart, an e-commerce advertising technology company acquired for $532 million in stock. - June 2016: Magic Pony—a startup specializing in AI-driven neural networks for image enhancement—purchased for $150 million. - January 2021: Revue acquisition to expand newsletter capabilities. - Late 2021: Acquired competitors threader.app (which converted Twitter threads into accessible web pages) and Quill (a messaging platform), subsequently shutting them down while directing users toward Twitter Blue subscription services.

These acquisitions illustrate Twitter’s strategic commitment to broadening its global footprint across advertising technology, artificial intelligence, content creation tools, and data analytics—supporting sustained growth and maintaining competitive advantage.

Leadership

Jack Dorsey initially served as CEO, guiding the company through two rounds of venture capital financing. On October 16, 2008, Evan Williams succeeded Dorsey as CEO, while Dorsey transitioned to the role of board chairman. Williams resigned as CEO on October 4, 2010, handing over leadership to COO Dick Costolo; Williams then concentrated on product strategy and retained his position on the board.

Dorsey returned to Twitter in March 2011 as executive chairman, simultaneously managing his CEO responsibilities at Square. In September 2011, board members Fred Wilson and Bijan Sabet stepped down. The following October, Matt Derella, formerly of Google, was recruited as director of business agency development. Anthony Noto, ex-Goldman Sachs executive, was appointed CFO in July 2014 with a compensation package that included $61.5 million in restricted stock options.

On June 10, 2015, Costolo announced his resignation effective July 1; Noto was among those considered for the CEO position. In October 2015, Omid Kordestani, previously Google's chief business officer, became executive chairman, replacing Dorsey who resumed the CEO role. Leslie Berland joined as chief marketing officer in January 2016 after departing American Express. COO Adam Bain left in November 2016, with CFO Noto taking over Bain’s duties. CTO Adam Messinger exited the company in December 2016.

In February 2020, activist investor Elliott Management acquired a stake and advocated for leadership restructuring. This led Twitter to appoint new independent directors and initiate a $2 billion share repurchase program while maintaining Dorsey as CEO.

Jack Dorsey resigned as CEO on November 29, 2021; Parag Agrawal, then CTO, was promoted to CEO. On October 27, 2022, Elon Musk finalized his acquisition of Twitter and promptly dismissed Agrawal along with CFO Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett. Musk dissolved the existing board, installing himself as sole director and assuming the CEO position.

List of chairmen

1. Jack Dorsey (2008–2015)
2. Omid Kordestani (2015–2020)
3. Patrick Pichette (2020–2021)
4. Bret Taylor (2021–2022)

List of CEOs

1. Jack Dorsey (2006–2008); first tenure
2. Evan Williams (2008–2010)
3. Dick Costolo (2010–2015)
4. Jack Dorsey (2015–2021); second tenure
5. Parag Agrawal (2021–2022)
6. Elon Musk (2022–2023)
7. Linda Yaccarino (2023–2025)

Finances

During the fiscal year 2021—Twitter’s last full year as a publicly traded company—the platform reported a net loss of $221 million on revenues totaling $5.1 billion. Since its initial public offering, Twitter has only recorded profits in two out of eight years, highlighting ongoing difficulties in maintaining consistent financial gains.

Year	Revenue (mil. US$)	Net income (mil. US$)	Total assets (mil. US$)	Employees
2010	28	−67	0	—
2011	106	−164	721	—
2012	317	−79	832	2,000
2013	665	−645	3,366	2,712
2014	1,403	−578	5,583	3,638
2015	2,218	−521	6,442	3,898
2016	2,530	−457	6,870	3,583
2017	2,443	−108	7,412	3,372
2018	3,042	1,206	10,163	3,900
2019	3,459	1,466	12,703	4,900
2020	3,716	−1,136	13,379	5,500+
2021	5,077	−221	14,060	7,500+

Funding

Twitter attracted more than US$57 million through initial venture capital investments, although precise figures have not been fully disclosed. The Series A financing round is believed to have raised between US$1 million and US$5 million. In 2008, the company secured US$22 million during its Series B funding, followed by a Series C round in 2009 that generated US$35 million from Institutional Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital, with additional contributions from Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, and Insight Venture Partners. Notable investors include Union Square Ventures, Digital Garage, Spark Capital, and Bezos Expeditions.

In December 2010, Twitter obtained US$200 million in funding at an estimated valuation of approximately US$3.7 billion. Earlier that year, Digital Sky Technologies led an $800 million investment round, marking the largest venture capital funding event at the time. By December 2011, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal invested US$300 million, placing the company’s valuation at around US$8.4 billion. These capital injections played a crucial role in strengthening Twitter’s financial standing and market competitiveness prior to its public offering.

Stock launch and tax issues

On September 12, 2013, Twitter submitted its registration documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as preparation for its forthcoming IPO. The company released an extensive prospectus exceeding 800 pages with the objective of raising US$1 billion during its stock market debut. The filing emphasized having "over 200 million monthly active users" and "more than 500 million tweets daily." In an amendment filed on October 15, Twitter confirmed its decision to list shares on the NYSE, a move influenced by Facebook’s challenging IPO experience. On November 6, 2013, the company priced 70 million shares at US$26 each, with Goldman Sachs serving as lead underwriter.

Twitter's stock opened at $26.00 per share and closed at US$44.90 on opening day, resulting in a market capitalization near US$31 billion. Co-founders Williams and Dorsey earned roughly US$2.56 billion and US$1.05 billion respectively from the offering, while CEO Dick Costolo received $345 million. The company’s first quarterly financial report post-IPO, released on February 5, 2014, revealed a net loss of $511 million for Q4 2013 despite generating revenues of $242 million.

In November 2017, the Paradise Papers disclosures exposed Twitter’s use of offshore entities to minimize tax obligations. Furthermore, reports surfaced indicating that Russian-American billionaire Yuri Milner had Kremlin support for investments in both Twitter and Facebook, raising concerns about potential foreign influence over major social media platforms.

See also

• Timeline of social media