Twitter is losing the man many believe is its most important executive, credited by many with having created Twitter’s video-driven growth strategy.

Anthony Noto, Twitter COO, is leaving the company to join fintech startup SoFi, where he will take up the reins as CEO on 1 March. Announcing the move, Twitter said that Notos responsibilities for the companys business operations and revenue generating operations will be assumed by other members of its leadership team.

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

Noto said that working at Twitter had been a “once in a lifetime opportunity” He continued: “I am immensely proud of our team and the key milestones we achieved during my time at the company. It has been an honor to work alongside Jack and contribute to the success of one of the most impactful platforms in the world. While its bittersweet to depart, I have the utmost confidence in Twitters future and look forward to watching the wonderful success the team will continue to achieve.”

Kind words, but many will see Noto’s departure as a major blow to Twitter. It comes two weeks before the company reports its Q4 and year-end results.
Analysts were encouraged by its Q3 results, when Twitter said it was on track to turn a profit in Q4, but disillusioned when it revealed that it had been miscalculating its monthly user numbers for the past three years, since Q4 2017, by including third party apps relating to its defunct Fabric platform. As a result, it lowered the previously-disclosed user numbers by 1m for Q4 2016 and by 2m for Q1 and Q2 2017.