Twitter replaces board member who left for Microsoft with ex-Google CFO

Crossing the social media divides isn’t common in Silicon Valley, so it’s notable that Twitter and Microsoft have played a spot of musical chairs with their boards.

Twitter board member Hugh Johnston — day job: Pepsi vice chairman and CFO — has left Twitter’s board to join Microsoft’s board as of today. Johnston’s replacement at the microblogging company is Patrick Pichette, a former CFO of Google.

No sooner was Johnston’s new role announced by Microsoft, so Twitter was trumpeting its own new addition, Canada-born Pichette, who served as Google CFO between 2008 and 2015.

Twitter already has another former Googler on its board in the form of Omid Kordestani, its executive chairman, who joined in 2015.

The trigger of these changes appears to be the decision of Microsoft board member G. Mason Morfit, president and chief investment officer of ValueAct Capital, to not seek re-election.

Microsoft’s board includes company founder Bill Gates, Greylock’s Reid Hoffman, Teri L. List-Stoll from Gap, and Bank Of America’s Charles H. Nosk among others. The Twitter board, meanwhile, includes Peter Chernin, Martha Lane Fox, CEO Jack Dorsey and others.

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