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Long-time CEO and co-founder of Twitch, Emmett Shear, penned an emotional press release to announce that he will be stepping down from the top position after helping start the purple platform more than 16 years ago. The piece also mentions that the company's current (now former) president, Dan Clancy, will be stepping up to the role of Chief Executive Officer of Twitch with "immediate effect."
Emmett Shear took a trip down memory lane in his goodbye to the streaming platform. He revealed details about how he, Justin Kan, Michael Seibal, and Kyle Vogt started working on Twitch's predecessor, Justin.tv, which was supposed to be a 24/7 reality show centered around Kan. While that particle "stunt" eventually failed, the idea of livestreaming is alive and well, with Twitch reaching new heights over the years.
In Shear's own words:
"We were making a 24/7 live reality television show about Justin’s life. I thought at the time that we would most likely fail and give up in less than a year... 16 years and four months later, I’ve never set up direct deposit a second time. Justin.tv, Inc. turned into Twitch Inc., Twitch Inc. became a fully owned subsidiary of Amazon, and along the way we have grown to more than 8 million streamers a month."
Twitter reacts to a management change at Twitch as Emmett Shear steps down as CEO
Twitch has played a significant role in the advent of livestreaming as a popular source of entertainment for millions around the world, pushing the boundaries of streaming content, be it video games or otherwise, till its current mainstream status.
While its more recent policies regarding leaner revenue splits and ad policies did create quite the controversy among users and creators, the purple platform remains one of the most prominent streaming outlets in the world, attracting millions of streamers to use it to broadcast several types of content to their fans around the globe.
Emmett Shear's decision to step down, citing the issue of raising a child, has been exceptionally well-received by people on Twitter, with many suggesting innovative ways of choosing a new CEO. Others joked about them having a Chief Executive Officer in the first place as they congratulated Shear on his retirement:
While this can be seen as a retirement, Emmett Shear will remain at Twitch in an advisory capacity, providing the new leadership with the occasional guidance thanks to his decade-and-a-half-old expertise in managing the platform.
