Pixar exec to join Twitter as CFO

From CNET News.com: Can a new chief financial officer paint some real revenue for Twitter? The company announced on Wednesday that it has filled that role with an executive from the Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios. Ali Rowghani, currently CFO and senior vice president of strategic planning at the animation powerhouse, will join Twitter next month.

"Ali will be an important member of a growing team focused on creating value for our users and capturing the financial opportunities that result from it," Twitter CEO Evan Williams said in a release. Rowghani had been at Pixar for nearly a decade. "His thoughtfulness on retaining a great culture to work and staying consistent with our principles will also be a significant contribution."

Twitter was first reported to be looking for a CFO last July.

Rowghani's background makes him an unusual choice for the tech industry--especially for Twitter, which has plucked many of its high-profile hires recently from dot-com brethren like Google and Digg. But it's probably a perfect fit for Twitter: not only is Pixar, which was backed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs and sold to Disney four years ago, a phenomenally successful and profitable venture, but it facilitates an executive pick well in line with Twitter's image as a somewhat off-the-wall establishment.

Late in 2008, Twitter reportedly turned down a buyout offer from Facebook. It has yet to produce a viable business model aside from search deals with Microsoft and Google; the long-term potential of those was thrown up in the air this week when Google launched Buzz, which is almost inarguably a competitor to Twitter.

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