Twitter Names Ex-Google Exec Patrick Pichette Chairman

Posted by Aldo Pusey on Thursday, August 8, 2024

Twitter has a new chairman: Patrick Pichette, who most recently was Google’s chief financial officer.

Omid Kordestani — another ex-Google exec — stepped down as Twitter’s executive chairman, effective June 1, and will remain on the board as a non-employee director. Pichette has served as the company’s lead independent director since Dec. 31, 2018.

Pichette’s appointment comes after Twitter reached an agreement with activist investor Elliott Management — which reportedly had been looking to oust CEO Jack Dorsey — under which Dorsey remained chief exec of the social network. In addition, private-equity firm Silver Lake invested $1 billion in Twitter, while Twitter also appointed Elliott and Silver Lake execs to its board.

“Given the strength and depth of Twitter’s management team and board, we believe that now is the right time to evolve our governance structure in-line with best practices,” Pichette said in a statement. “Omid has been a valued member of our executive management and brought important leadership and stability to the team over the past five years. We are pleased to demonstrate our commitment to good governance and be in the position to make this important change. We look forward to continuing to benefit from Omid’s expertise on the board.”

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Kordestani, who was named Twitter’s executive chairman in 2015, said in a statement, “It has been my great pleasure to work alongside Twitter’s management team and help advance its mission over the past five years. I have seen firsthand the significant changes Twitter has undertaken to strengthen and stabilize its leadership structure to achieve long-term sustainable growth and feel confident that I can now step back from my active role as executive chair. Patrick has been an important, independent voice in the boardroom and is the right person to assume this new role as independent chair. I look forward to continuing my work as a member of the board.”

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Pichette served as SVP and chief financial officer of Google from August 2008 until May 2015. Prior to joining Google, he served as an executive officer of Bell Canada Enterprises, including, in his last position, as president, operations for Bell Canada, and previously as CFO and EVP of planning and performance management.

From 1996 to 2000, Pichette was a principal at McKinsey & Co. and prior to that was VP and CFO of Call-Net Enterprises, a Canadian telecommunications company.

Pichette has been a member of the board of directors of Bombardier, a manufacturer of airplanes and trains, since October 2013, and serves on its audit committee and human resources and compensation committee. Pichette holds a master of arts degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Université du Québec à Montréal.

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