Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives $200M in stock to employees

After laying off eight per cent of the Twitter workforce in his first weeks back as chief executive, Jack Dorsey has decided to give a third of his stake in the company to employees.

In a tweet late Thursday, the Twitter co-founder announced he would put about seven million shares of the company into the employee equity pool.

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At current market rates, that stock is worth about $200 million US.

Dorsey, who owns 24 per cent of Square and just over three per cent of Twitter, was reappointed as CEO of Twitter on Oct. 5.

He has since laid off 336 employees, or about eight per cent of the company's workforce, in an effort to introduce efficiencies.

Twitter has also moved to introduce Moments, one of a group of new products it hopes will keep the social media service relevant.

By putting his shares in the equity pool, Dorsey is making them available for bonuses and other employee perquisites. He may also be attempting to boost morale in the face of layoffs.

"I'd rather have a smaller part of something big than a bigger part of something small," Dorsey tweeted. "I'm confident we can make Twitter big!"