Alwaleed Says Twitter Interim CEO Dorsey Should Not be Permanent Head

Riyadh: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of Twitter's earlier investors, believes the social messenger's interim chief executive should not get the job permanently because of his other job commitments, he was quoted by the FT as saying.

Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, was named interim head on Thursday after chief executive Dick Costolo abruptly announced he was stepping down effective July 1.

"Jack has another company called Square which requires a lot of attention and a full-time job round there. I believe and trust that Jack Dorsey is there on a temporary basis," Alwaleed was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times.

"The new leader has to have tech savviness, an investor-oriented process and a marketing mentality," he added.

Alwaleed first invested in Twitter in 2011, paying $300 million in a joint purchase involving his personal wealth and funds from Kingdom Holding, the investment company in which he owns most of the stock.

Dorsey told Reuters on Thursday he was not thinking "at all" about remaining CEO permanently because the search has just begun, but did not rule out the job.