Four key executives have reportedly left Twitter: The company’s head of product Kevin Weil and its head of media Katie Jacobs Stanton have left the company, according to a Recode report. Vine head Jason Toff and SVP of engineering Alex Roetter have also left, according to Recode. The departures come as the company struggles with a sinking stock price and investor expectations for a return to user growth.
Neither Weil or Stanton are leaving for different jobs, according to Recode, which is also reporting that both roles will be filled with insiders on an interim basis. Twitter may announce the departures as early as tomorrow, and may also announce the hire of a new CMO — a high-profile role the company was trying to fill for the better part of 2015.
Katie Stanton replaced former head of media Chloe Sladden in July of 2014. She previously worked at Yahoo and Google, as well as for the Obama administration in the White House and the State Department.
Weil has been a long-time Twitter insider who was well-liked by current and former employees. He was in charge of developer products at the company until last fall, when he got promoted to head of product as part of a restructuring of the company’s product efforts. Insiders have described Weil as particularly close to Twitter COO Adam Bain, with some speculating earlier last year that the two could be elevated to lead the company.
However, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey swooped in instead to take the helm of the company. Dorsey has since put a big emphasis on product roll-outs, with one of the biggest launches being the company’s Moments initiative in October. Moments is meant to deliver a more curated Twitter experience and increase engagement from casual and new users, but the reception to the product has been mixed. A marketing campaign meant to promote Moments also largely fizzled.
Twitter is scheduled to release its Q4 2015 earnings on February 10. The departures of Weil and Stanton suggest that investors once again won’t get to hear the turn-around story that they have been waiting for for so long now.
