Twitter: senior mangement changes

Evan Williams, one of the co-founders of Twitter and its erstwhile chief executive, is taking another step back from the company to work on something completely new, the details of which remain under wraps.

Williams’ announcement comes amid rumours that Jack Dorsey, another Twitter co-founder (and the sender of the first tweet), is planning a return to the social network, either as chief product officer or CEO. The CEO role is currently filled by Dick Costolo, who took over from Williams last October.

In announcing his decision, Williams says he will remain part of Twitter, sitting on the board and “frequently meet[ing] with many folks there to help in anyway way I can”.

“First of all, I’m not disappearing from Twitter. I remain on the board of directors and will frequently meet with many folks there to help in any way I can.

“However, now that Twitter is in capable hands that aren’t mine, it’s time to pick up a whiteboard marker and think fresh. There are other problems/opportunities in the world that need attention, and there are other individuals I’d love to get the opportunity to work with and learn from. (Details to come.)

“While I doubt I’ll get so lucky a third time, as my good friend Biz Stone likes to say, ‘Creativity is a renewable resource’. Let’s see what happens.”

Whatever is next for Williams will be of great interest to everyone who cares about digital start ups and trends and so on.

As someone who was part of Blogger when it launched (departing before it was taken over by Google), and then Twitter, Williams has a track history of being in the right place at (or just before) the right time, so anything he is part of is bound to attract a LOT of attention.

The only hint in his statement about his change of direction is that there are “other problems/opportunities in the world that need attention”, so could it be something philanthropic?