Twitter shares spike after it hints at new subscription platform

Shares of Twitter spiked as much as 8 percent Wednesday after the company hinted it’s building a subscription platform codenamed “Gryphon.”

Engineers for subscription platform, Twitter says in a job listing, are working closely with Twitter’s payments team, and the listing is looking for someone to “lead the payment and subscription client work.”

Twitter last year struck a truce with billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund Elliott Management, which was looking to oust CEO Jack Dorsey over the company’s weak stock performance compared to other social networking giants.

As a part of the truce, Twitter agreed to “accelerate revenue growth on a year-over-year basis and gain share in the digital advertising market.”

A representative for Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

The stock climb also came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the government was looking at banning popular social media app TikTok because of its connections to China.

The top US diplomat said Americans should be careful using the app, which is owned by China-based ByteDance.

“Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party,” Pompeo said when asked if he would recommend people to download TikTok.

Shares of Twitter jumped $2.42, to $35.41.