Twitter COO Anthony Noto is leaving to become CEO of SoFi

Twitter COO Anthony Noto is leaving the company to take the CEO job at finance startup SoFi.

News first broke over the weekend that Noto, who has been with Twitter since 2014 and is the company’s most important executive outside of CEO Jack Dorsey, was considering the SoFi job. Now it’s official, with both Twitter and SoFi issuing statements early Tuesday confirming the move.

Noto will take over the SoFi CEO job beginning on March 1.

“Anthony has been an incredible advocate for Twitter and a trusted partner to me and our leadership team,” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire team, I want to thank Anthony for his passion and his impact, and congratulate him on his new role.”

Those close to Noto say that he’s long wanted to be a CEO, and at times he’s been a de facto CEO inside of Twitter. (Dorsey, Twitter’s actual CEO, is still part-time at the company as he also runs the payments company Square.) Noto was the architect of Twitter’s big strategy bet on live video, for example, including its deal with the NFL in 2016 to stream “Thursday Night Football.”

It’s not clear who will take his place. Twitter says that Noto’s responsibilities, which include overseeing all of the company’s revenue-generating operations, will be spread out among “other members of Twitter’s leadership team.” Twitter is set to begin an executive onsite of sorts on Tuesday at its NYC headquarters with most of the company’s top leaders.

As for SoFi: The finance startup, which specializes in student loan refinancing, has been looking for a CEO since September when former CEO Mike Cagney resigned amid sexual harassment allegations. (He’s already back with a new startup.)

Tom Hutton, who had been serving as SoFi’s interim CEO, will remain on the board as the company’s non-executive chairman.

Twitter stock is down more than 3.5 percent in pre-market trading.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Contributions are a key part of the future of Vox

Readers rely on Vox for clear, nuanced coverage that not only illuminates the issues, but poses solutions, too. And we rely on help from our readers: Advertising and grants cover the majority of our costs, but we count on contributions to help us close the gaps in our budget. In fact, we’re looking to reach 95,000 individual contributions before the end of the year. Will you make the next contribution right now? Our average gift is just $20 — and it goes a long way in helping us keep our work free. Vox is here to help everyone understand what’s shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. Join that mission by making a contribution today.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via