Twitch CEO, Co-Founder Emmett Shear Resigns After Over 16 Years of Service

After 16 years of service in Twitch, Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder Emmett Shear will step down from his position effective immediately. This decision comes after the birth of his first child as he moves to the next phase of his life.

Leaving Twitch

Twitch's Emmett Shear resigns from his position as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. According to The Verge's report, served 16 years in the company and has been at Twitch since its launch.

As he becomes a father, he stated that he has been reflecting on his future with the company. "Twitch often feels to me like a child I've been raising as well. And while I will always want to be there if Twitch needs me, at 16 years old it feels to me Twitch is ready to move out of the house and venture alone," he noted.

Shear will remain as the company's advisor despite stepping down as the CEO. Meanwhile, the executive will be replaced by Twitch President Dan Clancy, who has been serving in the company since 2019. He was originally hired as the company's Executive Vice president of Creator and Community Experience.

Although the company has been experiencing setbacks recently, he remains confident in the future of Twitch. He stated that with the company's leadership, along with the people and the product, Twitch will last longer. He added, "For many years I truly felt Twitch might die without my guidance and input, but I no longer feel that is true."

He expressed his sincerest gratitude to the company, including Amazon who acquired the company in 2014. Shear also described the company as the best acquirer he could have hoped for.

Shear as Twitch CEO

Reuters reported that Shear co-founded the company with former Chief Executive Officer Justin Kan. The platform was previously called "Justin.tv," where Kan streamed his life 24/7. In 2011, the company revamp its services to focus on popular gaming live streams and called the platform "Twitch."

Three years later after that, Amazon acquired the company for $970 million. As per him, Amazon supported them and allowed a product as different as Twitch to show growth in the company.

Despite these successes, Dexerto reported that Twitch also experienced a lot of setbacks during his stay as the CEO. The company faced increased competition in recent years as other platforms enters the world of live streaming, including YouTube and Facebook.

Twitch has also been criticized by its creators for having a lower subscription revenue split than its competitors, with only 50/50. This is much lesser than YouTube's 70/30, hence the call from streamers to increase these digits.