Twitter CEO Dick Costolo under pressure to resign

TWITTER boss Dick Costolo is in a precarious position. Why are people calling for him to be sacked?

epa03865068 (FILE) A file photograph showing Twitter CEO Dick Costolo attends a Twitter seminar during the 59th edition of the International festival of creativity, Cannes Lions in Cannes, France, 20 June 2012. Social media company Twitter announced on 12 September 2013 through its own service that it has filed paperwork for a planned initial public offering of shares. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER *** Local Caption *** 50396927

TWEETY bird is getting hammered.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo on Friday continued to get dinged by critics calling for his scalp — the latest salvo coming from Harvard Business School professor Bill George, who berated the 51-year-old executive for his lack of leadership.

“It’s time for him to go,” George said on CNBC on Friday. “You need a new team at the top.”

While George praised the Twitter app, which he says he uses five times a day, he said Costolo just isn’t in the same class as Google CEO Larry Page or Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg.

George isn’t the first to call for Costolo’s exit.

On Monday, SunTrust analyst Robert Peck said he expected Costolo to be gone within a year.

That idea that Costolo could be headed out the door sent Twitter stock up 3.6 per cent. It had been down 41 per cent this year, and growth has been slowing.

George, the former CEO of Medtronic, a medical device technology company, unleashed no less than eight distinct complaints in an interview lasting mere minutes.

“They’re almost against advertising,” George said. “How long can the Street stay with them with these losses?” he added before following up with a Tweet reading: “Time for new leadership @twitter; otherwise TWTR loses out to Facebook and Google.”

The company pulled in third-quarter revenue of $US361 million, a 114 per cent boost year-on-year — but the number of active users isn’t growing as it had been.

And other social media platforms, like Instagram, appear to be stealing Twitter’s buzz.

Monthly active users are at 284 million versus Facebook’s giant 1.35 billion. BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield also noted that Facebook’s Instagram was the most downloaded free app on Friday.

Twitter’s Vine video product ranked No. 20, and Twitter was No. 26, Greenfield noted.

Separately, tech consultant Shelly Palmer told The Post that Twitter needs “a complete revision of its products. What any critical observer would immediately notice is the remarkable disparity between the promotion Twitter receives (on TV) and its lack of a growing user base.”

Street analysts have tipped Twitter Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto as a possible replacement. Former Yahoo! CEO Ross Levinsohn’s name has also surfaced in reports.

Twitter shares closed Friday at $US37.60, flat on the session — but they are sitting at just about half of their 52-week high of $US74.73.

The microblogging site will next report quarterly results on Feb. 5. If subscriber growth doesn’t reignite, the calls for Costolo’s ouster just may get louder.

This story originally appeared on The New York Post.

Originally published as Twitter CEO Dick Costolo under pressure to resign