On Monday, Jeff Lawson, the founder of Twilio, declared that he would step back from his positions as CEO and board member at the enterprise communication software firm while it still deals with two activist investors. Khozema Shipchandler, a seasoned Twilio executive, will be succeeding Lawson. It is uncertain if this move will reduce the pressure from the activists.
On Monday, Jeff Lawson announced his stepping down as CEO of Twilio, an enterprise communications software company, as it faces pressure from two activist investors. According to a regulatory filing, the company also said it expects fourth quarter revenue and income to come in above its prior guidance. The announcement caused an increase in stocks for Twilio with a 6.4%. Lawson expressed his gratefulness and excitement in his blog post about the "next chapter" for Twilio as Khozema Shipchandler, a longtime Twilio executive, takes over Monday as the new CEO. Along with this, Lawson will step down from the board while board member and partner of Bessemer Venture Partners, Jeff Epstein, will take the chairman seat. Shipchandler has suggested that Twilio will take a closer look into underperforming businesses to please the activists, Anson Funds and Legion Partners, which have been pushing to either sell the company or completely divest its data and applications business. Twilio has been working with bankers at Qatalyst Partners to fight off these activist investors. Anson Funds portfolio manager Sagar Gupta shared his appreciation of the leadership change and said more actions are needed to maximize value for shareholders. Shipchandler previously served as Twilio's CFO, COO, and took over the company's communications division during a corporate restructuring and has been part of Twilio since 2018. Legion Partners have yet to comment on Shipchandler's appointment, which comes after the company cut 5% of its employees with a focus on the data and applications business, even though Legion Partners believe more changes are needed.
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