Zach Rodgers contributed.
Twitter’s Adam Bain is moving on. Bain was the long-running Twitter executive who rose from head of sales to chief operating officer over the course of his six years with the company.
In announcing his departure via Twitter, Bain wrote, “We took the company from $0 to Billions faster than almost anyone’s ever done it. We diversified the business, took it global. I’m excited to take w me everything I’ve experienced at Twitter & do something totally different and new outside the company.”
Bain’s sudden departure comes barely two weeks after the company announced it would cut 9% of its workforce – mostly in sales, partnerships and marketing teams. Moreover in January, Recode reported on an executive exodus, including Twitter’s VP of global media Katie Jacobs Stanton and SVP of product Kevin Weil, who moved on to Instagram.
Bain’s leaving is another major shake-up – and perhaps one of the most impactful in terms of Twitter’s advertising aspirations. Because Bain spent five years as Twitter’s president of global revenue and partnerships before his September 2015 promotion to COO, his tenure made him a stabilizing force for the advertising community.
While advertising revenue had traditionally been a strong spot for Twitter, its growth rate started dwindling in recent quarters, a downward trend mirroring the pattern of its monthly active users. Twitter’s presence as a major advertising platform is under threat, as advertisers have increasing options on where they can allocate their mobile dollars.
As Bain tweeted about his decision to leave, he feted his team and various Twitter executives, both past and present.
Anthony Noto, Twitter’s CFO, will step into Bain’s shoes as COO. Twitter is reportedly already on the hunt for Noto’s replacement.
