Twitter's new CEO, Parag Agrawal, will soon take a few weeks of paternity leave, shaking up Silicon Valley's evolving norms around parental leave.

In less than three months after taking over as CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, 37, has established himself in one of the most high-profile positions in the internet business.

However, despite being under intense pressure from investors to develop the company swiftly, he is reported to be still taking a few weeks off for paternal leave.

Parag Agrawal previously served as Twitter's deputy chief technology officer. Agrawal took over as CEO of Twitter at the end of November 2021, following the sudden resignation of the company's co-founder Jack Dorsey.

Paternal Leave in Twitter

Twitter confirms on Wednesday (Feb. 16) that in preparation for the birth of his second child, Agrawal plans to take "a few weeks of paternity leave.

As reported by Washington Post, during a company all-hands meeting last week, Agrawal announced his decision to take the leave, though it appears that he will take less than the full 20 weeks of the Paternity leave that Twitter provides.

According to a statement sent to The Verge by Laura Yagerman, head of corporate communications at Twitter, "at Twitter, we encourage and fully support employees taking parental leave in whatever way works best for each person."

The company's parental leave program (which allows for up to 20 weeks of flexible leave) is designed to accommodate individual preferences. The spokesperson also stated that while on leave, Agrawal, who serves as the executive sponsor of the internal Twitter parents' community, intends to remain "connected" with the company's executive team.

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Parag Agrawal Paternal Leave

Furthermore, Washington Post reported that he has not appointed an interim CEO and intends to maintain communication with his executive team.

The social media platform declined to say whether Agrawal took parental leave after the birth of his first child, but a tweet from his wife, Vineeta Agarwala, in 2019 suggests that he did.

Vineeta Agarwala works in a venture capital firm named Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner.

Agarwala shared a study that found mothers' health improved when their partners stayed at home after a child's birth on Twitter. She added that she couldn't imagine what her own postpartum life would have been like without Agrawal at home with her children.

Breaking The Stigma of Parental Leave in Tech

Several high-profile founders and CEOs of technology companies have made it a point to take advantage of the paternal leave that their companies are required to provide.

For example, after the births of his daughters in 2015 and 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook's parent company Meta, took two months of paternal leave to care for them.

Also, in 2017, Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, took 16 weeks of paternity leave after his wife, tennis star Serena Williams, gave birth to their daughter.

Ohanian feels strongly about the stigma attached to men in taking paternal leave. He even spoke out in a New York Times op-ed, stating, "...dads, let me be your air cover. I took my full 16 weeks and I'm still ambitious and care about my career. Talk to your bosses and tell them I sent you."

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