A senior engineering executive at Twitter has announced his departure from the company, just a day after the launch of Ron DeSantis' US presidential campaign on the platform faced technical issues. Foad Dabiri, who served as the engineering lead for Twitter's Growth organisation, took to Twitter to share his decision, stating that he had "decided to leave the nest" after nearly four years at the company. The launch of Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign encountered problems as a Twitter livestream experienced malfunctions.
This incident follows a series of workforce reductions at Twitter, with over 80 per cent of employees being laid off since its acquisition by Elon Musk.
Dabiri acknowledged the transformative nature of the company, mentioning the distinct eras he experienced before and after Elon Musk's acquisition last year. Describing the transition to Twitter's "2.0" as "massive and rapid," he emphasised the challenges faced during the process.
While Dabiri did not provide specific reasons for his departure or clarify if it was related to the technical issues during the DeSantis event, he did express appreciation for working with Elon Musk and witnessing how Musk's principles and vision shape the company's future. Neither Dabiri nor Twitter provided further comments on his exit when approached by the BBC.
The glitches with the Twitter livestream resulted in a delayed start for Ron DeSantis' campaign announcement, causing a significant number of Twitter users to leave the platform before the event began in earnest. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and a potential Republican candidate for the 2024 general election is regarded as a prominent rival to former President Donald Trump within their party.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October. In a recent interview with the BBC, Musk acknowledged the challenges involved in reducing the workforce from nearly 8,000 employees to approximately 1,500 after acquiring the company. Since taking the helm at Twitter, Musk has overseen significant layoffs, including engineers responsible for site operations and technical troubleshooting.
Despite the technical difficulties, Ron DeSantis' team swiftly responded, attributing the disruption to overwhelming excitement and claiming that the online event had raised $1 million in just one hour. Although the Twitter livestream initially garnered over 600,000 listeners, the number dwindled to less than 300,000 by the end of the event.
During the livestream, Ron DeSantis emphasized his conservative credentials and highlighted his approach to handling the Covid-19 crisis in Florida, which embraced an anti-lockdown stance applauded by many Republicans.