Twitch cofounder says he’s stepping down as CEO to raise his baby: ‘I want to be fully there for my son as he enters this world’

• Twitch CEO Emmett Shear announced he is stepping down to care for his newborn son.
• After 16 years at the helm, his resignation marks a new beginning for Twitch.

After 16 years at the helm of Twitch, CEO Emmett Shear is stepping down to focus on raising his newborn son.

"Twitch has been like my family, the place I've spent more of my waking hours than anywhere else," Shear wrote on Twitch's blog Thursday. "With the arrival of my son, the time has come for me to focus my energies on building that tiny little startup family, and I'm ready to dedicate my energies there."

Shear's decision to step back from the Amazon-owned, live-streaming platform took effect immediately, Shear wrote. He will be replaced by Dan Clancy, the company's president.

"For many years I truly felt Twitch might die without my guidance and input, but I no longer feel that is true," Shear wrote. "I think in fact it's exactly that growth which has allowed me to even consider the idea that I might not work at Twitch."

Shear has been at the helm of Twitch since its inception as Justin.tv 16 years ago. Through a name change and a purchase from Amazon, the company has grown to host more than 8 million streamers every month.

Shear likened Twitch to a child, one he wrote is "ready to move out of the house and venture alone," allowing him the time and focus to care for his new son.

"So it is with great poignancy that I share my decision to resign from Twitch as CEO," Shear wrote. "I want to be fully there for my son as he enters this world and I feel ready for this change to tackle new challenges. I will continue to work at Twitch in an advisory role."

Shear's decision to step down continues a changing of the guard among the most popular entertainment platforms on the internet. Just last month, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki decided to step down from her role at the company, marking the end of an era for the ubiquitous video platform.

With a large pool of overlapping viewers, the changes at the top of both YouTube and Twitch seem to mark a new beginning for live streaming and video on the internet.

"Thank you, everyone, for your support, your critical thoughts, your trust, and your help," Shear wrote. "We built something great."