X's head of product Nikita Bier leaves company a year after joining

Nikita Bier, the startup founder who took on the role of head of product at X about a year ago, has left the position. In a post on X, Bier announced that he would stay on as an advisor, saying it was "time to pass the torch and demote myself to my natural state: a poster."

During his tenure, Bier became one of the platform's most visible executives. He was associated with sometimes contentious updates, such as the "about this account" feature that displayed a country of origin for accounts and led to the exposure of several popular profiles that had been posing as US-based political influencers. More recently, he oversaw changes to X's creator monetization system, which included measures against engagement baiting and creators who repost others' content without permission.

Bier did not reveal what he would do next beyond continuing to advise X. He explained that running the app is a 24/7 job and that he now needs to take a breather. Before joining X, Bier founded two anonymous messaging apps aimed at teenagers. In 2017, he sold the polling app tbh to Facebook, and in 2023, Discord acquired his anonymous compliment app Gas. Both apps were later shut down.

It remains unclear who will take over Bier's responsibilities. In his announcement, he acknowledged several teammates, including Benji Taylor, who became head of design earlier this year. Taylor responded that he would still be leading design and was excited to help continue Bier's work.