Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former World Bank Vice Chairman and Robert Zoellick have joined Twitter as directors as the communication giant reshuffled its board.
Marjorie Scardino will step down from the Board for personal reasons at the end of the year. Scardino joined Twitter in 2013 and became the first female board member.
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala is also a one-time Nigerian finance minister who diligently served under the administrations of ex-President Olusgun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
“Ngozi and Bob are distinguished leaders with unparalleled global perspective and policy expertise,” said Omid Kordestani, Executive Chairman of Twitter.
“We are confident they will be incredible assets to Twitter as we continue to focus on driving transparency and making Twitter a safer, healthier place for everyone who uses our service.”
Mr. Kordestani noted, “On behalf of the Twitter Board, I want to thank Marjorie for her service on the Twitter Board over the past five years. Marjorie joined the Board in 2013 and has been a strong voice on our board as our Lead Independent Director. Marjorie’s insights and contributions have been invaluable, and all of us at Twitter wish her the best and look forward to her contributions through the end of the year.”
Thanks for the privilege, Jack. https://t.co/PPlL2xggZV
— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) July 19, 2018
“Twitter is a powerful platform that continues to be used as a strong connector for the global community, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the team,” said Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. “As we strive to build a better world for tomorrow, Twitter can amplify messages and drive critical conversations around today’s most important issues. I look forward to partnering with Twitter’s talented directors and leadership team as we work to leverage the power of Twitter for good.”
Excited to work with @Jack and an incredible team on the Board of Twitter, a global platform that is such a strong connector of people and ideas.
— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) July 19, 2018.
“I’m honored to join a company as purposeful as Twitter,” added Mr. Zoellick. “Twitter has made meaningful progress in expanding and encouraging global dialogue and creativity on its platform, and I’m privileged to work with Jack, Omid and the rest of the Board to continue the strong momentum underway.
Reacting to the appointment, Atiku Abubakar, a PDP presidential aspirant wrote in his Twitter page ‘’I am delighted at the news of Dr. @NOIweala’s appointment to the Board of @Twitter. She is a national treasure and her exploits on the world finance and business stage is further proof that when you empower a woman, you empower a community, a nation and a continent.’’
Twitter was founded on March 21, 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched on July 15, 2006.
Its headquarters is located at San Francisco, California, United States of America. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity. In 2012, more than 100 million users posted 340 million tweets a day, and the service handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries per day.