By Fredrick Lee
- Kay Madati leaves as Twitter struggles with diversity
- Twitter ad revenues peaked at $791M under his tenure
Today Twitter’s (TWTR +0.50%) Head of Content Partnerships, Kay Madati will exit the tech company. Since his arrival in the Fall of 2017, Madati was responsible for helping the micro-blogging platform successfully monetize its video offerings. His magic in creating partnerships with content providers has paid off for Twitter on multiple levels. However, his departure comes at a time where Twitter is working to improve diversity among its management and employees.
Why This Matters: Before Madati came to the social media company’s ad revenues barely reached $503 million. Twitter’s fortunes changed under the content helm of Madati, because since his arrival in the Fall of 2017 ad revenue significantly increased. During the fourth quarter of 2018, the tech company posted its highest ad revenue at $791 million. Part of Madati’s magic was to partner with content providers in producing live video event for Twitter users. Partnerships included shows being streamed live from the BET and MTV awards, to the coverage of NBA, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer games. These partnerships resulted in video content that increased revenue for the tech company’s bottom line and impressed investors.
Amid pressures from investors, it will be imperative that whoever his successor is continue to grow Twitter’s ad revenue
Here’s the rub: Madati’s arrival to Twitter came at a time when it saw increases in Women, Black workers and diverse leadership representation. In December 2018, women represented 40.2% and 35.8% in tech company’s workforce and leadership, respectively. During the same period, Black representation among the workforce and leadership was 4.5% and 4.7%, respectively. In August 2019, women and Black employee representation at Twitter increased. However, workers in this same demographic had a total attrition rate of more than 11% from August 2018 to August 2019.
Situational Awareness: Madati’s role at Twitter expanded the tech company’s reach into lucrative video content partnerships. Amid pressures from investors, it will be imperative that whoever his successor is continue to grow Twitter’s ad revenue. At the same time, the company needs to work on improving its diversity numbers across the board to avoid similar public relation issues that other tech companies have faced. Twitter also needs to figure out how to address a retention rate that is greater than the number of women and Blacks workers they employ.
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