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Twitter CEO Giving $200 Million in Stock to Employee Equity Pool

Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said he is giving a third of his stock in the company, about 1 percent, to the employee equity pool.
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Twitter chief executive and co-founder Jack Dorsey said he is giving a third of his stock in the company, about 1 percent, to the employee equity pool.

The move, worth $197 million as of July 28, is to "reinvest directly in our people," Dorsey, who was named as the company's permanent CEO earlier this month, said in a tweet on Thursday.

Twitter did not comment further on the move.

Read More: Twitter Layoffs: Social Network Slashing 8 Percent of Workforce

The unusual move comes as Dorsey works to rebuild employee morale and confidence at Twitter after a spate of high-level departures over the past several months.

He announced last week that the company would lay off 336 employees, about 8 percent of its workforce, in an attempt to streamline Twitter's products and teams.

Dorsey, who took over as interim CEO in July after Dick Costolo resigned, also tweeted "I'd rather have a smaller part of something big than a bigger part of something small."

His appointment raised concerns among investors about whether he could run both Twitter and mobile payments company Square, which he co-founded.

Dorsey disclosed in Square's IPO filing earlier this month that he plans to donate 40 million shares, or 10 percent of the company, to a charity foundation he started that invests in artists, musicians and local businesses.

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