After 16 years of service towards the popular streaming platform, Twitch, CEO Emmet Shear is stepping down. The executive shared his journey of working for Twitch and watching it grow in a blog post today.
In October 2006 we started working on live video for the internet. That became Twitch. More than 16 years later, I"m now a father and ready to move to my next phase of life. I wrote a blog post, but the short version is: thank you so much to everyone who built this with me.
— Emmett Shear (@eshear) March 16, 2023
Shear discussed how Twitch came into being, going from Justin.tv, Inc to Twitch Inc and how the platform soon became a subsidiary of Amazon and grew to an audience of over 8 million streamers per month. With 16 years and 4 months passed, Shear added that the journey would only end for him as a CEO as he would continue to work for Twitch, although while taking a more advisory role. Here is what he wrote:
“With my first child just born, I’ve been reflecting on my future with Twitch. Twitch often feels to me like a child I’ve been raising as well. And while I will always want to be there if Twitch needs me, at 16 years old it feels to me Twitch is ready to move out of the house and venture alone. So it is with great poignancy that I share my decision to resign from Twitch as CEO. I want to be fully there for my son as he enters this world and I feel ready for this change to tackle new challenges. I will continue to work at Twitch in an advisory role.”
He further mentioned that he now prioritizes his family following the birth of his son over and hence, will be replaced by Dan Clancy as the CEO with immediate effect. Lastly, Shear thanked the people and organizations, especially Amazon, for supporting Twitch and helping it grow.