Confirming Monday's rumor, moments ago Twitter announced that Anthony Noto notified the company on January 22, 2018 that he is resigning from his position as Twitter's #2 executive and Chief Operating Officer in order to accept the chief executive officer role at another company. Immediately afterwards, SoFi announced that Noto will be appointed as the company's CEO, while Tom Hutton remains chairman.

According to the press release, Noto's responsibilities will be assumed by other members of Twitter's leadership team. The lack of a prepared replacement suggests that Noto's resignation took everyone by surprise. Matt Derella, Twitter's Vice President of Global Revenue and Operations, will continue to lead the company's advertising sales efforts.

Realizing that it is losing one of its anchor employees, the company scrambled to put a favorable spin on the departure.

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

"Working at Twitter has been a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am immensely proud of our team and the key milestones we achieved during my time at the company," said Noto. "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 it's bittersweet to depart, I have the utmost confidence in Twitter's future and look forward to watching the wonderful success the team will continue to achieve."

While it was already leaked previously, the news has pushed Twitter stock lower if not drastically so, although it remains to be seen just how viable Twitter's business model is now that its #2 is out while the CEO continues to hold 2 full time jobs...