Parag Agrawal an IIT-Bombay Graduate that led Twitter through thick and thin

Parag Agrawal, the former Twitter CEO who oversaw the company throughout Elon Musk's chaotic takeover today was sacked and literally shown the door. With less than a year in Twitter Agrawal will walkout with a severance payout of $56 million.

Elon Musk has sacked him, Ned Segal, finance chief and the head of legal policy, Vijaya Gadde after closing the deal.

Agrawal became the CEO in November 2021 after founder Jack Dorsey announced his departure. He had a rapid rise at Twitte after starting off as a software engineer in 2011. In just six years he ascended to become the rank of chief technology officer.

According to reports from CNBC, he made a mark with his work in machine-learning technology and artificial intelligence that has helped Twitter with audience growth.

Agrawal was born in Rajasthan's Ajmer and attended school in Mumbai. He went on to study computer science at IIT Bombay and then he moved to the US to attend Stanford University.

He took up research roles at Microsoft, Yahoo and AT&T Labs while he was studying for his PhD after which he joined Twitter and rose to the top executive position in just 10 years.

Agrawal was Dorsey’s choice to succeed him as CEO because of Agrawal’s deep understanding of the company as he has been there for every critical decision that helped turn the company around.

"He leads with heart and soul and is someone I learn from daily. My trust in him as our CEO is bone-deep," said the founder in his letter last year.

Published on: Friday, October 28, 2022, 07:50 PM IST