12 February 2010

Pixar Finance Chief To Join Twitter As CFO

The Wall Street Journal


Twitter Inc. on Wednesday named Pixar Animation Studios' current finance chief to be the micro-blogging service's new chief financial officer, part of the company's drive to develop new sources of revenue.

Ali Rowghani, who has served in several roles at Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) Pixar since 2001, will join Twitter in March.

"Ali will be an important member of a growing team focused on creating value for our users and capturing the financial opportunities that result from it," said Twitter Chief Executive Evan Williams.

The San Francisco-based micro-blogging service, which lets users blast short messages their from computers and mobile phones, has been one of the hottest brands in the technology sector over the past two years or so.

But critics have been quick to point out that while Twitter had more than 60 million unique users in December, it still does not generate significant revenue. Twitter recently struck deals to provide Internet giants like Google Inc. (GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) with real-time access to its stream of tweets. The company does not provide financial details.

Twitter last year secured about $100 million from a group of investors that includes mutual-fund giant T. Rowe Price Group Inc., private-equity firm Insight Venture Partners and venture group Benchmark Capital.

Currently CFO and Senior VP of Strategic Planning at Pixar, Rowghani previous served as director of the company's production finance and strategy group. Prior to joining Pixar, Rowghani was an associate at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

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