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Parag Agrawal

Parag Agrawal
Agrawal in 2005
Born (1984-05-21) 21 May 1984 (age 40)
Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
EducationIndian Institute of Technology, Bombay (BTech)
Stanford University (MS, PhD)
Known forFormer CEO, Twitter, Inc.
PredecessorJack Dorsey
SuccessorElon Musk[1]
SpouseVineeta Agarwala
Children2
Scientific career
ThesisIncorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration (2012)
Doctoral advisorJennifer Widom

Parag Agrawal (Hindi pronunciation: [pəˈɾaːɡ əɡɾəˈʋaːl]; born 21 May 1984)[2] is an Indian-born American software engineer and businessman who was the CEO of Twitter, Inc. from November 2021 to October 2022.[3]

Early life and education

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Agrawal was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan.[4][5] His father was a senior official in the Indian Department of Atomic Energy and his mother is a retired Economics professor from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in Mumbai.[6]

He completed his Secondary Schooling at Atomic Energy Central School No.4 and in 2001, he completed his HSC at Atomic Energy Junior College, Mumbai.[7] In the same year, he secured a gold medal in the International Physics Olympiad held in Antalya, Turkey.[8][9]

In 2005, Agrawal obtained his BTech degree in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay.[10] That year, he moved to the United States to pursue a PhD in computer science at Stanford University under the guidance of Jennifer Widom.[11][12][13] His Stanford doctoral thesis, published in 2012, is titled "Incorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration".[14][15]

Career

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Agrawal held research internships at Microsoft Research and Yahoo! Research before joining Twitter as a software engineer in 2011.[16] In October 2017, Twitter announced the appointment of Agrawal as chief technology officer following the departure of Adam Messinger.[17] In December 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Agrawal would be in charge of Project Bluesky, an initiative to develop a decentralized social network protocol.[18]

In an interview discussing the rise of misinformation on Twitter with MIT Technology Review in November 2020, while still Twitter CTO, when asked about freedom of speech regarding Twitter, Agrawal said: "Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation ... [and to] focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed."[19]

On November 29, 2021, Dorsey announced that he was resigning as CEO of Twitter and that Agrawal was replacing him immediately.[20][21][22] As CEO, Agrawal was awarded annual compensation of $1 million as well as stock compensation worth $12.5 million.[11] Agrawal was fired as CEO once Elon Musk completed his acquisition of the company on October 27, 2022.[23][24]

Post-Twitter, Agrawal founded an artificial intelligence startup aimed at developing software for large language models (LLMs). The company received $30 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, Index Ventures, and First Round Capital.[25]

Personal life

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Agrawal is married to Vineeta Agarwala,[26] general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, where she focuses on investments in biotech and health tech.[27] They have two children,[28] and reside in San Francisco.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Elon Musk officially becomes Twitter CEO and dissolves board of directors". Euronews. 1 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Parag Agrawal: Ajmer Celebrates a Son 'More Powerful than PMs, Presidents'". The Times of India. 30 November 2021.
  3. ^ Conger, Kate; Hirsch, Lauren (27 October 2022). "Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  4. ^ "अजमेर के रहने वाले हैं ट्विटर के नए CEO:किराए पर रहता था परिवार, 4 दिसंबर को घर आएंगे पराग के मम्मी-पापा" [The new CEO of Twitter is from Ajmer:The family used to live on rent, Parag's parents will come home on 4 December]. Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). 30 November 2021.
  5. ^ Isaac, Mike; Conger, Kate; Met, Cade (29 November 2021). "Who Is Parag Agrawal, Twitter's New C.E.O.?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  6. ^ "THIS is why Twitter's new CEO Parag Agrawal kept his son's name Ansh". MSN. 12 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal's teachers call him 'typical topper' with special calibre". The Indian Express. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  8. ^ Damle, Manjiri (13 August 2001). "Indians bag 5 medals at physics Olympiad". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  9. ^ "IPhO: India - Individual Results". ipho-unofficial.org. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Bright Student, Well Organized: How Teachers Remember IIT Bombay Alumnus, Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal". News18. 30 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Parag Agrawal becomes Twitter CEO: Who is Parag Agrawal? Here is a brief profile of this IITian in 5 points". India Today. 29 November 2021.
  12. ^ Rajghatta, Chidanand (30 November 2021). "IIT-Bombay alumnus Parag Agrawal is Twitter CEO after Dorsey exit". The Times of India.
  13. ^ Chhapia, Hemali; Doval, Pankaj (30 November 2021). "When Parag Agrawal regretted wasting time tying IIT-JEE supplements". The Times of India.
  14. ^ Agrawal, Parag (2012). "Incorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration". Stanford University.
  15. ^ Spangler, Todd (29 November 2021). "Who Is Parag Agrawal? A Look at Twitter's New CEO". Variety.
  16. ^ Novet, Jordan (9 March 2018). "Twitter taps distinguished engineer Parag Agrawal as new CTO". CNBC.
  17. ^ "Things To Know About New Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal, From IIT Bombay". News18. 30 November 2021.
  18. ^ Mathews, Eva (30 November 2021). "Who is Parag Agrawal, Twitter's new CEO?". The Times of India. Reuters.
  19. ^ "EmTech Stage: Twitter's CTO on misinformation". MIT Technology Review. 18 November 2020.
  20. ^ Huddleston Jr., Tom (30 November 2021). "Twitter's new 37-year-old CEO went from Twitter engineer to CEO in just 10 years". CNBC. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  21. ^ Molina, Brett (29 November 2021). "Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal named as successor, sends stock surging". USA Today.
  22. ^ Feiner, Lauren; Bursztynsky, Jessica (29 November 2021). "Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal will replace Jack Dorsey as CEO". CNBC.
  23. ^ Dang, Sheila; Roumeliotis, Greg (27 October 2022). "Musk starts his Twitter ownership with firings, declares the 'bird is freed'". Reuters. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  24. ^ Vanian, Jonathan (28 October 2022). "Elon Musk now in charge of Twitter, CEO and CFO have left, sources say". CNBC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  25. ^ "Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Raises $30 Million For New AI Startup: Report". NDTV.com. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Who Is Vineeta Agarwala, And How Is Elon Musk Twitter Buyout Linked To CEO Parag Agrawal Wife". www.india.com. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  27. ^ Akhtar, Allana (29 November 2021). "Meet Twitter's new CEO: a 37-year-old machine learning and AI expert". Business Insider.
  28. ^ Sadeque, Samira (17 February 2022). "Twitter CEO's weeks-long paternity leave hailed by fellow dads". The Guardian.
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