Twitter Inc Drops: Company Wants To Remain 'Independent'

Twitter Inc

shares headed toward Friday's close off more than 3 percent for the week, despite a spike touched off late Thursday by news of its CEO's departure. Shares of the San Francisco-based social media company traded recently at $35.76, down $0.08 cents. Enthusiasm was perhaps damped after Twitter executives appeared cool to take-over talk in a TV interview. Richard Costolo, who plans to step down as chief executive July 1, told CNBC's David Farber Friday that Twitter has a duty to maximize shareholder value, but that "we think we can do that best as an independent company." http://www.cnbc.com/id/102755461 Costolo declined to comment on whether Twitter had held previous merger talks with Google Inc

. Chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey appeared to reiterate to Farber what he told analysts Thursday: don't expect a change in strategy from Twitter. "The fundamentals the company is building right now, and executing right now, are extremely strong and beautiful," Dorsey said. Yet Twitter shares are off about 24 percent in the past three months, taking a steep dive following its April quarterly report that showed a slowing rate of user growth and disappointing advertising results. "Twitter is a mess" according to Slate columnist Alison Griswold, who noted the departure of a half-dozen top executives during the past year. http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/06/11/twitter_ceo_dick_costolo_to_resign_july_1.html Investors "have been calling for Costolo's resignation for several months now, and have criticized him for tepid leadership and an apparent lack of vision," according to Griswold.