Twitter has hired Alexander Macgillivray, Google’s associate general counsel for Product and IP, as their new General Counsel, we’ve confirmed. Macgillivray is still an employee of Google, and his start date at Twitter has not yet been determined.
We’ve been sitting on the story all day and were trying to talk with Macgillivray because our understanding is that he may not have told Google that he was going to Twitter and we didn’t want to be the one’s to break the news. But the story broke on the NY Times, so I’m guessing they know all about it now.
We’ve also confirmed that Twitter is aggressively hiring across the board, including top executive spots. A number of candidates have been interviewed for the CFO job in particular.
Macgillivray, a former Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati attorney, has been a key figure in Google’s legal battles over their book scanning efforts. The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the matter.
Macgillivray is leaving Google at a crucial time. The books settlement is a key antitrust issue that needs to be handled delicately, and he was leading the charge (or, perhaps, retreat). Google will be scrambling to fill his role.
One problem Twitter has had in attracting key executives, multiple sources have told us, is the impression that they may sell the company sooner rather than later. They have told candidates that they intend to stay in it for the long haul, and don’t plan to sell any time soon.
We’ll see.
Update: his blog post:
Working in Google Legal has been a dream job. The people at Google are phenomenal. In every part and at every level of the company there are great people with multiple useful talents in addition to those that got them the job. For a lawyer, the issues we dealt with every day were fascinating, the real-world impact of our work was humbling, and the ethical compass of the place remained true
Among many other things, I am proud to have been part of the legal department that helped:
Increase transparency for removals: Google remains the only search engine that sends legal notices to ChillingEffects.org to document search results suppressed for legal reasons.
Stand up to the Department of Justice: Google was the only search engine provider that stood up to the Department of Justice’s overbroad request for search query information.
Launch Google Book Search: Google is making books easier to find by using fair use for a great purpose and is working to expand access to books through the Book Search settlement.
Stand up for users: In my experience, Google does “focus on the user.” Google Legal is no exception in its decisions about everything from global product functionality to individual removals. As a result, we’ve been threatened or sued many times for user-focused functionality and what our users have said through our services.
There are many other examples, and many more that are confidential or privileged, but these give you a flavour of the types of things the Google legal department gets to do. I still can’t recommend it highly enough (really, go check out the jobs page).
Thank you Googlers, it was an honour.
Nice catch. I was gonna tip you on that Google/Twitter name thing.
the guy is going to lose the case with the feds and is bailing to twitter to cash out
nice alex…next time try fighting the fight
This could be interesting. I guess Twitter not adding on any features for such long periods at a time has a reason behind it; they are setting themselves up for the big grand re-opening with expanded reach in the near future.
I don’t know how long Twitter will last, but adding these individuals to the team makes me think they want a real statergy and that they want to be arond 5 years from now.
There are services that are better than Twitter out right now. eventually one of them will get that spark and I don’t think Twitter wants to be caught off guard when that happens (because it will happen).
Twitter has a massive global network effect working in it’s favor. More features or a swankier design will not overcome that any time soon. Also, part of Twitters strength comes from allowing API clients to add extra features on top of it’s basic service. I’m willing to accept that they will eventually monetize their service effectively and once they do they will be that much more reluctant to sell to anyone.
Does hiring a CFO imply Twitter will have revenue to keep track of at some point?
Once the twitter hype is gone… it’s dead.
thats what i used too think. twitter has become embedded on some major websites as a microbookmarker. youtube is pimping twitter. all the other microblogs busting out will forever be classified as wannabee twitter copycats. twitter has been branded as the google of microblogging and i dont see how anything will ever change that.
Yeah, and nothing like beefing up the payrolls before the money comes in…Twitter is going to eventually need to raise Facebook-style rounds to stay afloat.
I don’t think Twitter is going anywhere for awhile. It’s going to be a service that is going to stick around for awhile. I used to think Twitter is boring, people are going to get tired of it, but it’s growing and it’s mentioned every single place I look. Twitter is here to stay for at least the new few years.
No offense, but Twitter needs to hire more support. Sorry Delbius, your support answers do not suffice. And with the 4chan, Dfizzy crap that happened last week, those dorks should have been suspended indefinitely with the shenanigans they did.
Hiring executives… on what money?
That’s only then a hype support for twitter to gain members trust.
Damn! If I was not already CFO to two VC-backed startups and advisor to a bunch more I’d sign up for that gig. Of course, Twitter would need to move to Montreal.
Yeah, ’cause I’m sure they would ask you.
If I only have the skills to qualify, then I’ll apply immediately.
Michael Arrington… often ends with:
We’ll see.
No, I think it always ends with “ton.”
“ton”, awesome!
“Google will be scrambling to fill his role.” -
Michael – not taking away anything from this attorney’s smarts – but – on first blush – one would have to assume – Google has already found his replacement or put another way – Google wants a replacement given the next phase is more about getting away from the unfortunate consequences of this agreement – the copyright saga that has now become a anti-trust sequel.
When a company starts “lawyering up” then you know they are serious about taking it to the next level.
Could it be they need lawyers to make a deal? I think that is far more likely, as I don’t see them lasting a long time an a independent company. At some point, revenue is actually important. Anyone can pay to draw a crowd. The CEO is so greedy, seems this will eventually be another Friendster.
Twitter and Facebook seem to be taking away Google guys at a steady pace. It’s great Twitter is acquiring notable folks but unless they come up with some business plan or a way to expand their site, it’s going to slowly die. Right now it’s running on hype due to various news outlets using the service and mentioning it almost every day. Hiring a Google man will definitely help. http://ziggytek.com/
Looks like Twitter is finally gearing up to act like a grown-up.
People love talking about Twitter/Facebook just as much as they like using them. Quite a buzz the geek crowd can create for something they love!
come on Google, buy twitter now!
1. Bring all the applicants to a baseball diamond.
2. Have them all line up behind the pitcher’s mound.
3. Place fat boy Arrington behind home plate (hint: to lure him there, tell him home plate is actually a Pie).
4. The CFO candidate who can hit him in the “strikezone” (his testicles) gets hired on the spot.
It’s what we call a “Win Win”
Twitter already has lawyers, Ted Wang (@twang) and Patrick Kelly (@pjk3). I wonder if they’ll stay around.
They should pour their money into support & communications…basically, talk and listen to their users. The buzz won’t last forever.