TWITTER EXODUS: Here's what the departing execs are saying

There's a major shake-up underway in Twitter's leadership.

The news broke Sunday that four executives are leaving the social networking company, along with a senior employee at Twitter-owned Vine.

CEO Jack Dorsey, in a statement posted to Twitter, says that the four had "chosen" to leave, and that "all four will be taking some well-deserved time off."

Here are the confirmed departures:

• Kevin Weil, senior vice president of product;
• Alex Roetter, senior vice president of engineering;
• Brian "Skip" Schipper, vice president of human resources;
• Katie Jacobs Stanton, vice president of global media;
• And Jason Toff, General Manager at Vine.

Where does this leave the executive team?

It's a very significant shake-up - the four (discounting Toff) make up 40% of the 10-man executive team.

Alongside Dorsey, COO Adam Bain, general counsel Vijaya Gadde, chief accounting officer Robert Kaiden, CTO Adam Messinger, and CFO Anthony Noto remain.

Bain will be taking on new responsibilities in light of the departures, Dorsey says, as well Messinger. Bain will have "responsibility for the revenue-related product teams, the Media team, and the HR team on an interim basis. Our CTO Adam Messinger will be taking over all of engineering and consumer product, design and research user service, and Fabric into one group."

As analyst Rich Greenfield points out, the majority of execs who were present two years ago have now left the company.

What's going on at the social network?

Jack Dorsey founded the social network, and returned as CEO in 2015 to try and reinvigerate the company. It has been struggling to attact new users, and its stock is tanking - it recently dropped below $20 for the first time ever.

Dorsey is radically shaking things up at the social network in an attempt to improve its fortunes. It has launched a new "Moments" feature that curates tweets, and the CEO has even been toying with the idea of raising the character limit from the traditional 140 to 10,000.

Dorsey - and the execs who have spoken publicly - say their departures were public. So where are they going next?

First, here's Jack Dorsey's full statement about the exodus:

Kevin Weil

The SVP of product sent a tweet saying he'll be spending time with his family and going on "long trail runs."

Alex Roetter

Likewise, Twitter's outgoing SVP of engineering says he is taking a "step back to think about what's next for me and my family."

Brian "Skip" Schipper"

Skip, Twitter VP of human resources, has yet to make a public statement.

Katie Jacobs Stanton.

Stanton, VP of global media, has been most forthcoming. She has published a blog post on Medium, writing: "I decided to resign because it's time for me to pour more of my energy into my family."

She lays out four key things she wants to focus on: Being present; #Angels, an investment group she is a part of; helping to empower women; and helping make Hillary Clinton president.

"I can't thank Jack, Dick, Ev and Biz enough for this opportunity of a lifetime," she writes, "I am profoundly grateful to them and for my team for bringing out the best in all of us. The world needs Twitter and while I will turn in my badge in a few weeks, I will keep rooting (and tweeting!) for Twitter's continued success."

 

Jason Toff

Toff - who is GM at Vine - is also departing. he's rejoining Google, his former employer. He says on Twitter that he's going to be working on virtual reality: "So much exciting potential there."