Parag Agrawal replaces Twitter founder as its CEO, joins growing club of India-born tech leaders
By Maina Chen
Twitter appointed Mumbai-born Parag Agrawal as its CEO on Tuesday, following founder Jack Dorsey’s announcement that he would step down from the role on Monday.
Man of the hour: Agrawal climbed the ladder at Twitter, Inc., going from the role of chief technology officer to his new position in 10 years’ time since he joined the company in 2011.
- He is now the youngest CEO of a S&P 500 company at 37 years old, according to Bloomberg.
- Agrawal graduated from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, where he received his engineering degree, and then Stanford University for his computer science doctorate.
- Dorsey praised Agrawal’s capabilities in a tweet of his resignation email and explained that the board was unanimous in choosing his successor.
- The new CEO gave his thanks to Dorsey and the rest of the team in a tweet showing his email to the company as well.
India celebrates: Indian news outlets applauded Agrawal’s promotion as another addition to the growing list of Indians who have assumed leadership roles and the surplus of Indian talent in the tech industry, according to Fortune.
- Gautam Adani, India’s second-wealthiest man, suggested the promotion was “Another great moment for India’s depth of talent and USA’s meritocracy system” in a tweet.
- Agrawal joins the ranks of other fellow India-born leaders such as Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen, IBM’s Arvind Krishna and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai.
- Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School Vivek Wadhwa said that Agrawal’s step into the role is needed. “Jack’s arrogance turned many governments off,” he said. “If you note how Microsoft has not been the target of the left or right in the U.S., it is because of Satya and his ability to listen to criticism and maintain a balance. I expect that Agrawal will do the same.”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not chime in, as India’s government and Twitter have not seen eye to eye when it comes to free speech and censorship, as was the case with the farmers’ protest of controversial laws, among other instances.
Featured Image via The Verge
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