Twitter partners with Silver Lake and Elliott, Dorsey still CEO

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Twitter has announced a partnership with Silver Lake and Elliott Management Corporation (Elliott). The partnership brings a $1 billion investment from Silver Lake and additions to Twitter’s Board of Directors. The news comes just days after Elliott CEO, Paul Singer, called for Dorsey to be replaced as head of Twitter over concerns that his attention is split between Twitter and Square.

While Elliott won’t be investing, its affiliated funds own around 4% of Twitter’s common stock and economic equivalents. Under the partnership, Twitter will use Silver Lake’s investment, together with cash on hand, to fund a $2 billion share repurchase program that will occur over a period of time.

Egon Durban, co-CEO and managing partner at Silver Lake, as well as Jesse Cohn, a partner at Elliot, will be added to Twitter’s Board of Directors. Twitter’s announcement also said that a third independent director, with AI expertise, will also be identified and appointed.

In order dispel fears that Dorsey's attention is split between Twitter and Square, Patrick Pichette, lead independent director of the Twitter Board, said the following:

"As a Board, we regularly review and evaluate how Twitter is run, and while our CEO structure is unique, so is Jack and so is this Company. To continue to ensure strong governance, we are pleased to create a temporary Board committee that will build on our regular evaluation of Twitter's leadership structure. This committee, which I will chair, will provide a fresh look at our various structures, and report the findings to our Board on an ongoing basis."

Aside from the investment news, Twitter also said that it hopes to grow monetizable Daily Active Usage (mDAU) at 20% or more this year and then accelerate revenue growth on a year-over-year basis. It also hopes to gain share in the digital advertising market in order to further boost its income. The social media firm said that this partnership will have no effect on Twitter’s policies, rules, or enforcement decisions.