5 Top Execs Out in Twitter Exodus

Twitter now has five fewer characters at the top. The company confirmed Sunday night that four top execs—media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, product head Kevin Weil, engineering chief Alex Roetter, and human resources VP Brian "Skip" Schipper—are leaving in what amounts to a major shake-up, reports Reuters. In what he described as an effort to set the record straight after inaccurate media reports, CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the four are leaving the company voluntarily and will now be taking some "well-deserved time off." Vine chief Jason Toff, who wasn't mentioned in Dorsey's tweet, also announced his departure on Sunday. He tweeted that he's joining Google to work on virtual reality.

According to Re/code, which first reported the departures, it has been a very tough few months for Twitter execs, with the service struggling to attract new users and its share price plummeting to well below its IPO price. Sources tell the New York Times that Twitter co-founder Dorsey, who returned as permanent CEO in October, is planning to tackle the company's problems by expanding its board of directors, with at least one high-profile media personality set to join. The sources say that while some execs are departing voluntarily, at least one was asked to leave. (Twitter shares are down 55% over the last year, but Dorsey still managed to make $277 million on his birthday.)