WhatsApp co-founder becomes the boss at Signal

New year, new CEO: Signal founder and boss Moxie Marlinspike is vacating his post and wants top management with fresh energy for Messenger. He is in such a hurry to quit that WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton is now taking the reins in hand.

After a decade

“It’s a new year, and I’ve decided it is a good time to replace myself as Signal’s CEO.” With these words, Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike announced that after almost a decade of working on the Messenger now fast Farewell to the top management wants to take. “I wrote all of the Android code, wrote all of the server code, was the only person available for the on-demand service,” Marlinspike said of the difficult early years. But this situation has changed significantly: “Signal is now a fantastic team of 30 people.”

As the founder emphasizes, the time has now come to vacate the chief position at Signal, which is also an important step for further success. In the last few months, there have already been talks with potential successors, but these obviously did not end with a satisfactory replacement. “With this announcement, I want to broaden the search to find the best person for the next decade at Signal,” said Marlinspike.

Interim CEO

He wants to concentrate fully on the search for this person in the coming months, which makes it necessary to name a successor now. Brian Acton, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Signal Foundation, has agreed to “act as interim CEO” during the search phase. Acton is known as the co-founder of WhatsApp but left Messenger behind in 2017 after an open conflict with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Acton and Marlinspike founded the Signal Foundation in 2018.