Media

Twitter Still Looking for a Turnaround With Newest Board Addition

Chris Lange

Published: July 6, 2016 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 6:03 am

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is looking for ways to turn itself around as this social media giant has recently bounced off of its all-time low. CEO Jack Dorsey has pulled out all the stops, trying to affect a turnaround. Now, the company has a new addition to its board of directors.

Effective immediately, Bret Taylor will join the Twitter board. Taylor has a long list of accomplishments in the tech and social media industry, and Twitter is looking to bring some of his expertise to the table.

Taylor is currently the CEO and co-founder of Quip, the modern productivity suite that simplifies your life and helps your team get work done faster. Previously, he was the chief technology officer of Facebook, after it acquired FriendFeed, the social network he co-founded in 2007.

Prior to that, Taylor was a group product manager at Google, where he co-created Google Maps and started Google’s Developer product group. He has a master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Taylor commented:

Twitter is the fastest way to find out what’s happening, and beneath its simplicity lies a very sophisticated set of technology. I hope to bring my knowledge and experiences to bear to help Jack and the Board push Twitter and its services forward.

Omid Kordestani, Twitter’s executive chairman, added:

Bret brings to our Board a great mind for consumer products and technologies that will be invaluable to the company as we execute our plans for 2016 and beyond. His skills also complement those of our other recent Board additions, who bring expertise in finance, media, and entrepreneurship.

As of Tuesday’s close, Twitter has underperformed the broad markets, with the stock down about 26% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is down by roughly 50%.

Shares of Twitter closed Tuesday down 0.8% at $17.14, with a consensus analyst price target of $18.38 and a 52-week trading range of $13.73 to $38.82. Following this announcement, the stock was down an additional 1% at $16.97 in Wednesday’s early trading indications.