Twitter charts solo path as Salesforce backs out

Twitter and Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey may now have to chart an independent course in the face of stagnant user growth, heavy losses and mounting competition from the likes of Facebook’s Instagram and Snap Inc’s Snapchat. 

Dorsey is likely to face intense scrutiny over his continued role as CEO of both Twitter and the payment company Square, especially if the company’s next quarterly report in late October is as weak as some analysts expect.

Twitter grew rapidly for years after it was founded in 2006, and has assumed a unique and influential position in the global media ecosystem. But the company has been plagued by management turmoil since its earliest days and has long been criticised for a lack of product innovation and, more recently, lack of user growth. 

Twitter last month hired bankers to field acquisition offers and companies including Alphabet and Disney expressed interest, according to sources familiar with the process. Google and Disney decided not to proceed, the sources said, leaving Salesforce, a provider of cloud computing software for businesses, as the last reported bidder. But Salesforce investors reacted poorly to the idea, sending the company’s stock down when its interest in Twitter first emerged. Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff said on Friday he had ruled out a bid. “In this case we’ve walked away. It wasn’t the right fit for us,” said Benioff, adding that there were many reasons the fit was not right, including price and the culture of the company.