Twitter COO Adam Bain announced his departure today, dealing a major blow to a company whose business is already weathering serious turbulence.
Bain, a six year Twitter veteran, said in a tweet, "I let Jack know that I am ready to change gears and do something new outside the company," adding: "I have nothing but love for this unbelievable company & product."
Twitter last week laid off around 350 people — about 9% of its workforce — following an unsuccessful attempt to sell itself to a list of suitors that includes the likes of Disney and Salesforce. Bain's organization, which includes sales and marketing, suffered the worst of it.
Bain’s departure wasn't entirely surprising, said one person inside the company. "After beating revenue numbers quarter after quarter and finding the stock still going down, he may have realized that there’s only so much he could do with a completely dysfunctional product organization," the person said.
Despite Twitter's trouble growing its user base, Bain built a sales organization that now brings in over $2 billion a year in the face of intense competition. Once considered a top candidate for the CEO job, Bain is so admired at Twitter that employees rallied around him in 2015 using the hashtag #AdamBainIsSoNice.
Anthony Noto, Twitter's chief financial officer, was appointed COO. He will serve in both positions until the company finds a new CFO.