Republican mega-donor and converted Trump supporter Paul Singer buys stake in Twitter and plans to oust Jack Dorsey
- Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management, has reportedly taken a hefty stake in the social media company
- Singer is planning to push out CEO Jack Dorsey, sources said
- He is a Republican donor who opposed Trump during his 2016 race for the White House but he has since done a u-turn to become a keen supporter
- Trump uses Twitter to broadcast his thoughts to the world
- Twitter banned all political advertising from its service in October
- Other stakeholders have previously voiced concerns over Dorsey's leadership
A Republican mega-donor and converted Trump supporter has bought a large stake in Twitter and is planning to oust Jack Dorsey from his role as CEO, according to sources close to the matter.
Paul Singer, founder of investment management firm Elliott Management, has reportedly taken a hefty stake in the social media company and is planning to use his newfound influence to push for many changes, starting at the top.
One of the first things on his list is to force out CEO Jack Dorsey, sources told Bloomberg.
The value of the stake in the firm is not known.
Singer is a Republican donor who opposed Trump during his 2016 race for the White House but he has since done a u-turn to become a keen supporter of the president.
Paul Singer (left), founder of investment management firm Elliott Management, has reportedly taken a hefty stake in Twitter and is planning to use his newfound influence to push for many changes, starting with forcing out CEO Jack Dorsey (right)
In 2017, Trump invited Singer to the White House and said afterwards that Singer 'was very much involved with the anti-Trump or, as they say, 'Never Trump', and Paul just left, and he's given us his total support and it's all about unification'.
It's no secret that Trump is a big fan of using Twitter to broadcast his thoughts to the world and to announce major events impacting the US.
But Twitter came under fire for is position on political ads, along with Facebook and Google, in September after it refused to remove a misleading video ad from Trump's campaign that targeted former Democrat Joe Biden.
Following the issue, Dorsey announced Twitter was banning all political advertising from its service, saying social media companies give advertisers an unfair advantage in proliferating highly targeted and misleading messages.
'We've made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons…' Dorsey tweeted back in October.
Trump has regularly blasted Twitter, accusing it – along with Facebook and Google – of political bias against conservatives and even suggesting the platforms had tried to rig the election.
Singer is a Republican donor who opposed Trump during his 2016 race for the White House but he has since done a u-turn to become a keen supporter of the president. In 2017, Trump invited Singer to the White House and said afterwards that Singer had 'given us his total support and it's all about unification'
Other stakeholders have voiced concerns over Dorsey's (above) leadership. Since he returned as CEO in July 2015, Twitter's shares have tumbled by 6.2%
He has also repeatedly threatened to investigate or regulate them.
In July, he called on Congress to pass legislation that would clamp down on the firms and said Twitter should be fined for engaging in 'possible illegal' activity.
It remains to be seen what impact a Republican Trump supporter stakeholder will have on the social media platform's future political stance.
Singer wouldn't be the first stakeholder to have voiced concerns over Dorsey's leadership.
In December, Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business and an investor in Twitter, wrote a letter calling for Dorsey to be replaced at the helm.
'To be clear, my primary objective is the replacement of CEO Jack Dorsey,' Galloway said in an open letter to Executive Chairman Omid Kordestani.
'However, your firm's weapons of mass entrenchment include a staggered board that may force shareholders to seek to replace other directors, including yourself, first.'
Since Dorsey returned as CEO in July 2015, Twitter's shares have tumbled by 6.2%.
News of Singer's stake in the company saw shares rise on Friday - even amid fears the spread of coronavirus would lead to a recession.
Singer's firm Elliott Management is an activist investor, meaning it regularly pushes for change in companies it owns shares in.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtODA2MTQ5NS9SZXB1YmxpY2FuLW1lZ2EtZG9ub3ItYnV5cy1zdGFrZS1Ud2l0dGVyLXBsYW5zLW91c3QtSmFjay1Eb3JzZXkuaHRtbNIBeWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtODA2MTQ5NS9hbXAvUmVwdWJsaWNhbi1tZWdhLWRvbm9yLWJ1eXMtc3Rha2UtVHdpdHRlci1wbGFucy1vdXN0LUphY2stRG9yc2V5Lmh0bWw?oc=5
2020-03-01 05:57:00Z
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