Twitter taps board member with consumer savvy

SAN FRANCISCO —  Facebook's former chief technology officer Bret Taylor has joined the board of Twitter.

Taylor, who is founder and CEO of business software start-up Quip, joins the board immediately, Twitter said.

In Taylor, Twitter gets an executive with experience in building popular consumer products. Taylor was co-founder of FriendFeed, a social network acquired in 2009 by Facebook, and helped createGoogle Maps.

Twitter has been struggling to broaden its mainstream appeal as user growth has stagnated. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey returned to the company as CEO a year ago to turn around its fortunes. So far that effort has yet to reignite growth.

"I hope to bring my knowledge and experiences to bear to help Jack and the board push Twitter and its services forward," Taylor said in a statement.

Twitter's executive chairman Omid Kordestani said Taylor brings "a great mind for consumer products and technologies."

The board pick does not bring more diversity. In May, Twitter appointed its first black director: prominent media executive Debra L. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of BET Networks.

Twitter began taking fire for its mostly white male board before its November 2013 initial public offering. In response, publishing industry executive Marjorie Scardino became the first woman director, and former Google executive Omid Kordestani, who is Iranian-American, joined the board.

Since then Kordestani has overhauled the board, appointing Internet entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox and Pepsi’s chief financial officer Hugh Johnston, to replace Silicon Valley veteran Peter Currie and media executive Peter Chernin.