Report: Twitter Exploring Subscription Service

Jack Dorsey

Twitter Inc. said it was developing a subscription service that could give the social-media company a new revenue source at a time when it is under pressure to boost earnings, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The San Francisco company said in a job posting for a senior software engineer that it was “building a subscription platform” under a team code-named Gryphon and seeking someone to lead payment and subscription client work. Gryphon appears to be software that would be accessible to Twitter’s internal teams looking to add subscription options to their products, according to the job description. “This is a first for Twitter!,” the company said in the posting.

Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey is under pressure to boost results after a battle with Elliott Management Corp. The activist investor sought to remove the part-time chief executive, who splits his time with financial technology company Square Inc. The sides agreed to a truce with Twitter pledging to seek stronger revenue growth.

The job description offered few details on the subscription project, but said the hire would be working closely with the company’s payments team and the web-based Twitter.com group. The job would be based in New York, where Twitter already has an office.

A person familiar with Twitter’s plans said the company was exploring a variety of revenue-generating initiatives. No product decision has been made, the person said.

Twitter shares rose more than 7% Wednesday, the day the job posting got wide public notice.