Rebecca Cook
Jack Dorsey
But if you ask Jack Dorsey, who's playing the dual CEO role at both Twitter and Square, it's not a problem at all.
"I benefit a lot from a consistent schedule and a consistent structure," Dorsey, who's reported to be on an 18 hour work schedule, said during Square's quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. "It's been working out really well."
Dorsey said that he spends 4 hours every Monday at each company, meeting both leadership teams to make sure everything is under control. He said most of his work is focused on reviewing the product teams and recruiting, which means he may be doing less day-to-day operational work. He also has follow-up meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays to check up on their weekly progress, he said.
Most importantly, Dorsey stressed the proximity of the two companies' offices in downtown San Francisco is really what makes this happen, because it allows him to be at each office every day.
"As a reminder, both companies are across the street from each other, so that allows me to be at both companies every single day and be present," Dorsey said.
And it doesn't seem to be affecting Square's performance either. The payments company reported $374 million in revenue for the quarter, up 49% year-over-year. Gross payment volume, the total dollar amount of transactions Square processes, was also up 47% to $10.2 billion.
That was enough to drive Square shares up 2.5% in after hour tradings.
Twitter shares remain about 66% below their 52-week high, amid ongoing concerns about its stalled user growth. But the stock has recovered some lost ground, and is up more than 20% over the past 3 weeks.
Dorsey still has a lot of work to do to win over Wall Street about the prospects of both of his companies, but for the moment he seems to be balancing the two CEO jobs without any major hiccups.
"I'm always connected to both leadership teams," Dorsey said.
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