Dick Costolo: 'It Was The Right Time' To Step Down

Twitter Inc TWTR’s outgoing CEO Dick Costolo was on CNBC Friday to discuss why he is stepping down as the CEO, but still staying on the company’s board.

Why Stay On The Board?

"I love the company. I love the thousands of people who work at the company," Costolo began. "I enjoy working with customers and partners. I spend an extraordinary amount of time with all of those stakeholders in the business. So, I am looking forward to being able to continue to help out both internally and externally."

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It Was The Right Time

Costolo was asked whether he is stepping down as the CEO because he was exhausted, as many believe he is. He replied, "At the end of last year…when I started talking to the board about transitioning, I wanted to make sure we were doing it when the team that was in place was strong, was working well together – they were forthright with each other, they engaged directly with each other, they resolved conflicts together without me always having to step-in."

He continued, "And I started to see that at the end of the year and at the most recent board meeting just last week we had a good, long, three-hour conversation at the end of the board meeting about the state of the team that is healthy, maybe healthier than I ever seen it.

"The cadence of the product execution has been better than I have ever seen it. And with new services like Fabric doing so well and Periscope, one of the hottest and greatest new native mobile video apps in the market, it was the right time," Costolo concluded.