The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has cancelled his planned relocation to Africa this year. Jack described his tweets about moving to Africa as “a mistake”.
Recall that Jack Dorsey had disclosed his intention to move to Africa for up to six months following his month-long trip visiting entrepreneurs on the continent last year.
“Sad to be leaving the continent … for now. Africa will define the future (especially the bitcoin one!). Not sure where yet, but I’ll be living here for 3-6 months mid-2020. Grateful I was able to experience a small part,” Dorsey had stated in a tweet in November.
Going back to the present, while speaking at a conference, the Twitter CEO explained that he needed to re-evaluate his plans due to the Coronavirus outbreak amongst others.
“When I tweeted about my intention to spend a few months in Africa this year, I made a mistake and should have provided more context about why. The continent will be one of the most populated in the next 20-30 years, and room for tech innovation there is incredible, but in light of COVID-19 and everything else going on I need to reevaluate. Either way, we’ll continue to pursue opportunities in Africa.” Dorsey said.
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What you should know: Although Twitter recently cancelled all travels and events and is even encouraging its employees to work from home as part of measures aimed at containing the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which has now become a global epidemic, this may not be the only reason the tech executive has cancelled his plans to visit Africa.
Dorsey risks being replaced as Chief Executive Officer of the company he co-founded due to the new activist investors that are currently rooting for his removal. Nairametrics had reported when Elliott Management, the activist hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer, recently took a stake of nearly 5% in Twitter valued at about USD 1 billion. It is also understood that the firm is now pushing for the removal of Dorsey as CEO, and has nominated four members to Twitter’s board.
This might be the real reason why Dorsey is cancelling plans as he has to be on the ground now to protect his post by all means. It is also coming at a crucial time when major events or issues are coming into play like the U.S elections which seems to attract more users and advertisers to Twitter.
