In a big Silicon Valley shakeup, Twitter has just announced that Chief Operating Officer (COO) Anthony Noto has resigned. Noto, who has been with the social media company since 2014, has reportedly been named as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and director of fin-tech startup SoFi.
SoFi, an online personal finance company that provides student loan refinancing, mortgages, and personal loans, has been on the search for a new CEO since September when previous CEO Mike Cagney left the startup amid a sexual harassment investigation. Various outlets have reported that SoFi, which was founded in 2011, plans to go for an initial public offering (IPO). Noto helped guide Twitter through their IPO in 2013 while he was still employed at Goldman Sachs.
Noto’s departure will be a critical loss for Twitter. The company’s share price fell nearly four percent as the news broke. In the past 12 months, Twitter’s share price has risen almost 41 percent as it has been in the midst of executing a plan to expand its base of users and has been struggling to turn a profit amid tough competition from Facebook and other social media platforms. Twitter has not yet announced who will replace Noto as COO, but said that the role will be filled by “other members of Twitter’s leadership team.”
A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and MBA recipient from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Noto has already enjoyed a high-profile career. Noto started his career at Goldman Sachs where he quickly rose to being named a partner; he was then the National Football League’s (NFL) chief financial officer (CFO) for three years before joining Twitter as CFO.
He will begin his role as CEO of SoFi on March 1st.
