CNBC screenshot
Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey
Dorsey will retain his current job as CEO of digital payments company Square, Recode said citing anonymous sources. That means that Dorsey will be doing double duty, as full time CEO of two companies, one of which (Square) is said to be preparing for an IPO.
Twitter's board will also undergo some changes, according to the report. Dick Costolo, Twitter's previous CEO, will apparently exit the board.
Dorsey's appointment to the top job would end a nearly 4 month search, following Costolo's abrupt resignation in June. During that time, Twitter's stock has plunged by roughly 30% (occasionaly dipping below its $26 IPO price), the company's user growth has remained stagnant and a number of executives and managers have jumped ship or been ousted.
But while Dorsey's status as a founder of the company and his product vision could help Twitter revitalize a product that has fallen behind faster-growing rivals such as Instagram, his dual jobs will present a new set of challenges for Twitter.
Twitter's board had initially insisted that the next permanent CEO would have to make a "full time comitment" to Twitter, a stipulation that would have seemed to rule Dorsey out unless he resigned from Square. But Dorsey has shown no willingness to leave Square, and Twitter's board has apparently been forced to backtrack.
Twitter revenue boss Adam Bain was also a leading candidate for the job, but according to Recode, Bain refused to take the job so long as Dorsey was interested.
While Twitter's board insisited it was consdiering both internal and external candidates, it does not appear that any external candidates were seriously considered - or at the very least, no big names have been reported to be in serious negotations during the search process.
Shares of Twitter were up 2.7% at $26.29 in midday trading on Wednesday.
Twitter declined to comment.