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Last edited July 2, 2023


Parag Agrawal
Agrawal in 2005
Born (1984-05-21) 21 May 1984 (age 42)
EducationIndian Institute of Technology, Bombay (BTech)
Stanford University (MS, PhD)
TitleCEO of Twitter, Inc.
PredecessorJack Dorsey
Spouse(s)Vineeta Agarwal
Children2

Parag Agrawal (born 21 May 1984)[1] is an Indian-American software engineer who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, Inc..[2]

Early life and education[edit | edit source]

Agrawal was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.[3][4] 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.[5]

In 2001, he completed secondary and senior secondary studies at Atomic Energy Central School and Junior College No.4.[6]

In 2005, Agrawal obtained his Bachelor of Technology degree in computer science and engineering from IIT Bombay.[7] That year, he moved to the United States to pursue a PhD in computer science from Stanford University under the guidance of Jennifer Widom.[8][9][10] His Stanford doctoral thesis, published in 2012, is titled "Incorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration".[11][12]

Career[edit | edit source]

Agrawal held research internships at Microsoft Research and Yahoo! Research prior to joining Twitter as a software engineer in 2011.[13] In October 2017, Twitter announced the appointment of Agrawal as chief technology officer following the departure of Adam Messinger.[14] 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.[15] In November 2021, Dorsey announced that he was resigning as CEO of Twitter and that Agrawal was replacing him immediately.[16][17] As CEO, Agrawal was awarded annual compensation of $1 million as well as stock compensation worth $12.5 million.[8]

Views and policies[edit | edit source]

In an interview with MIT Technology Review in November 2020, when asked about freedom of speech, 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."[18]

Personal life[edit | edit source]

Agrawal is married to Vineeta Agarwala,[8][19] general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[20] They have two children, born in 2018 and 2022 respectively. He took paternity leave as the CEO of Twitter for the birth of his second child.[21]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Parag Agrawal: Ajmer Celebrates a Son 'More Powerful than PMs, Presidents'". The Times of India. 30 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "India-born Parag Agrawal replaces Jack Dorsey as Twitter CEO". The Economic Times. 30 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "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 December 4]. Dainik Bhaskar (in हिन्दी). 30 November 2021.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ "THIS is why Twitter's new CEO Parag Agrawal kept his son's name Ansh". MSN. 12 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal's teachers call him 'typical topper' with special calibre". The Indian Express. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bright Student, Well Organized: How Teachers Remember IIT Bombay Alumnus, Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal". News18. 30 November 2021.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "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.
  9. ↑ Rajghatta, Chidanand (30 November 2021). "IIT-Bombay alumnus Parag Agrawal is Twitter CEO after Dorsey exit". The Times of India.
  10. ↑ Chhapia, Hemali; Doval, Pankaj (30 November 2021). "When Parag Agrawal regretted wasting time tying IIT-JEE supplements". The Times of India.
  11. ↑ Agrawal, Parag (2012). "Incorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration". Stanford University.
  12. ↑ Spangler, Todd (29 November 2021). "Who Is Parag Agrawal? A Look at Twitter's New CEO". Variety.
  13. ↑ Novet, Jordan (9 March 2018). "Twitter taps distinguished engineer Parag Agrawal as new CTO". CNBC.
  14. ↑ "Things To Know About New Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal, From IIT Bombay". News18. 30 November 2021.
  15. ↑ Mathews, Eva (30 November 2021). "Who is Parag Agrawal, Twitter's new CEO?". The Times of India. Reuters.
  16. ↑ Molina, Brett (29 November 2021). "Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal named as successor, sends stock surging". USA Today.
  17. ↑ Feiner, Lauren; Bursztynsky, Jessica (29 November 2021). "Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal will replace Jack Dorsey as CEO". CNBC.
  18. ↑ "EmTech Stage: Twitter's CTO on misinformation". MIT Technology Review. 18 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "Vineeta Agarwala (@vintweeta) / Twitter".
  20. ↑ Akhtar, Allana (29 November 2021). "Meet Twitter's new CEO: a 37-year-old machine learning and AI expert". Business Insider.
  21. ↑ "Parag Agrawal has a Twitter-pro family: 3-yr-old son's reading habits, adventure-loving wife's tales on his feed". The Times of India. 30 November 2021.

External links[edit | edit source]