Parag Agrawal

Agrawal was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan.{{cite web |url=https://www.bhaskar.com/local/rajasthan/ajmer/news/shifted-to-mumbai-due-to-fathers-job-currently-residing-in-america-parents-will-come-to-ajmer-on-4th-129167519.html | title=अजमेर के रहने वाले हैं ट्विटर के नए CEO:किराए पर रहता था परिवार, 4 दिसंबर को घर आएंगे पराग के मम्मी-पापा | trans-title=The new CEO of Twitter is from Ajmer:The family used to live on rent, Parag's parents will come home on 4 December | work=Dainik Bhaskar |date=November 30, 2021 |language=hi}}{{cite news |last1=Isaac |first1=Mike |last2=Conger |first2=Kate |last3=Met |first3=Cade|title=Who Is Parag Agrawal, Twitter's New C.E.O.? | work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/technology/parag-agrawal-twitter.html |date=November 29, 2021| url-access=limited | issn=0362-4331}} 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.{{Cite web |title=THIS is why Twitter's new CEO Parag Agrawal kept his son's name Ansh |url=https://www.msn.com/en-in/entertainment/bollywood/this-is-why-twitters-new-ceo-parag-agrawal-kept-his-sons-name-ansh/ar-AARnbgT | website=MSN | date=February 12, 2021}}

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.{{Cite web |date=December 2, 2021 |title=Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal's teachers call him 'typical topper' with special calibre |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/education/parag-agrawal-was-a-typical-topper-had-focus-and-innovation-teachers-7650086/ |access-date=April 20, 2022 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}} In the same year, he secured a gold medal in the International Physics Olympiad held in Antalya, Turkey.{{Cite news |first=Manjiri | last=Damle | date=August 13, 2001 |title=Indians bag 5 medals at physics Olympiad |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/indians-bag-5-medals-at-physics-olympiad/articleshow/1375985964.cms |access-date=October 28, 2022 |newspaper=The Times of India |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=IPhO: India - Individual Results |url=https://ipho-unofficial.org/countries/IND/individual |access-date=October 28, 2022 |website=ipho-unofficial.org}}

In 2005, Agrawal obtained his BTech degree in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay.{{Cite news |date=November 30, 2021 |title=Bright Student, Well Organized: How Teachers Remember IIT Bombay Alumnus, Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal |work=News18 |url=https://www.news18.com/news/education-career/bright-student-well-organized-how-teachers-remember-iit-bombay-alumnus-twitter-ceo-parag-agarwal-4503176.html}} That year, he moved to the United States to pursue a PhD in computer science at Stanford University under the guidance of Jennifer Widom.{{cite news | title=Parag Agrawal becomes Twitter CEO: Who is Parag Agrawal? Here is a brief profile of this IITian in 5 points | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/features/story/parag-agrawal-becomes-twitter-ceo-who-is-parag-agrawal-here-is-a-brief-profile-of-this-iitian-in-5-points-1882270-2021-11-29 |work=India Today | date=November 29, 2021}}{{Cite news | last=Rajghatta |first=Chidanand | title=IIT-Bombay alumnus Parag Agrawal is Twitter CEO after Dorsey exit | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/jack-dorsey-steps-down-as-twitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-to-be-the-new-ceo/articleshow/87988800.cms | work=The Times of India | date=November 30, 2021}}{{Cite news | last1=Chhapia | first1=Hemali | last2=Doval | first2=Pankaj | title=When Parag Agrawal regretted wasting time tying IIT-JEE supplements | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/when-parag-regretted-wasting-time-tying-iit-jee-supplements/articleshow/87993348.cms | work=The Times of India |date=November 30, 2021}} His Stanford doctoral thesis, published in 2012, is titled "Incorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration".{{Cite web | url=http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/1053/ | title=Incorporating Uncertainty in Data Management and Integration | first=Parag | last=Agrawal | publisher=Stanford University | year=2012}}{{Cite news | url=https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/who-is-parag-agrawal-twitter-ceo-1235121367/ | title=Who Is Parag Agrawal? A Look at Twitter's New CEO | first=Todd | last=Spangler | work=Variety | date=November 29, 2021}}

Agrawal held research internships at Microsoft Research and Yahoo! Research before joining Twitter as a software engineer in 2011.{{Cite news | last=Novet |first=Jordan |title=Twitter taps distinguished engineer Parag Agrawal as new CTO | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/08/twitter-taps-distinguished-engineer-parag-agrawal-as-new-cto.html | work=CNBC |date=March 9, 2018}} In October 2017, Twitter announced the appointment of Agrawal as chief technology officer following the departure of Adam Messinger.{{Cite news | title=Things To Know About New Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal, From IIT Bombay | url=https://www.news18.com/photogallery/tech/things-to-know-about-new-twitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-from-iit-bombay-4501832.html | work=News18| date=November 30, 2021}} 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 which later became the Bluesky social media app and accompanying AT Protocol.{{Cite news | url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/who-is-parag-agrawal-twitters-new-ceo/articleshow/87996878.cms | title=Who is Parag Agrawal, Twitter's new CEO? | first=Eva | last=Mathews | agency=Reuters | work=The Times of India | date=November 30, 2021}}

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."{{cite news | url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/11/18/1012066/emtech-stage-twitters-cto-on-misinformation/ | title=EmTech Stage: Twitter's CTO on misinformation | work=MIT Technology Review | date=November 18, 2020}}

On November 29, 2021, Dorsey announced that he was resigning as CEO of Twitter and that Agrawal was replacing him immediately.{{cite news |last1=Huddleston Jr. |first1=Tom |title=Twitter's new 37-year-old CEO went from Twitter engineer to CEO in just 10 years |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/30/parag-agrawal-went-from-twitter-engineer-to-ceo-in-just-10-years.html |access-date=October 28, 2022 |work=CNBC |date=November 30, 2021}}{{Cite news | last=Molina | first=Brett | title=Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal named as successor, sends stock surging | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/11/29/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-steps-down-successor-parag-agrawal/8793643002/ | work=USA Today | date=November 29, 2021}}{{cite news | last1=Feiner | first1=Lauren | first2=Jessica | last2=Bursztynsky | title=Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal will replace Jack Dorsey as CEO | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/29/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-is-expected-to-step-down-sources-say.html | work=CNBC |date=November 29, 2021}} As CEO, Agrawal was awarded annual compensation of $1 million as well as stock compensation worth $12.5 million. Agrawal was fired as CEO once Elon Musk completed his acquisition of the company on October 27, 2022.{{cite news |last1=Dang |first1=Sheila |last2=Roumeliotis |first2=Greg |date=October 27, 2022 |title=Musk starts his Twitter ownership with firings, declares the 'bird is freed' |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/twitter-m-a-musk-idCAKBN2RN02A |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528061330/https://www.reuters.com/article/twitter-m-a-musk-idCAKBN2RN02A |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |access-date=October 28, 2022 |work=Reuters}}{{Cite news |last=Vanian |first=Jonathan |date=October 28, 2022 |title=Elon Musk now in charge of Twitter, CEO and CFO have left, sources say |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/27/elon-musk-now-in-charge-of-twitter-ceo-and-cfo-have-left-sources-say.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221028011412/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/27/elon-musk-now-in-charge-of-twitter-ceo-and-cfo-have-left-sources-say.html |archive-date=28 October 2022 |access-date=October 28, 2022 |website=CNBC}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Raises $30 Million For New AI Startup: Report |url=https://www.ndtv.com/feature/former-twitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-raises-30-million-for-new-ai-startup-report-4829227 |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=NDTV.com}}

Agrawal is married to Vineeta Agarwala, general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, where she focuses on investments in biotech and health tech.{{cite news |title=Meet Twitter's new CEO: a 37-year-old machine learning and AI expert | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-parag-agrawal-new-ceo-of-twitter-indian-american-2021-11 | last=Akhtar |first=Allana | work=Business Insider |date=November 29, 2021}} They have two children,{{Cite news |last=Sadeque |first=Samira |date=February 17, 2022 |title=Twitter CEO's weeks-long paternity leave hailed by fellow dads |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/16/twitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-paternity-leave |work=The Guardian}} and reside in San Francisco.{{Cite web |title=Who Is Vineeta Agarwala, And How Is Elon Musk Twitter Buyout Linked To CEO Parag Agrawal Wife |url=https://www.india.com/technology/who-is-vineeta-agarwala-and-how-is-elon-musks-twitter-buyout-linked-to-ceo-parag-agrawals-wife-5378729/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=www.india.com |language=en}}

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Category:1984 births

Category:American chief technology officers

Category:American technology chief executives

Category:Businesspeople from Rajasthan

Category:Indian emigrants to the United States

Category:IIT Bombay alumni

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Category:People from Ajmer

Category:Stanford University alumni

Category:Twitter, Inc. people