Jack Dorsey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jack Dorsey
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Dorsey in 2014
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Jack Patrick Dorsey
November 19, 1976 |
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| Known for | Co-founding Twitter, Inc. and Block, Inc. |
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Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American computer programmer and businessperson. He is famous for co-founding and leading two major companies: Twitter, Inc. (now known as X) and Block, Inc. (which created the Square payment system). He also started Bluesky, another social network.
In December 2024, the magazine Forbes estimated that Jack Dorsey's wealth was about $5.6 billion.
Contents
Early Life and Big Ideas
Jack Dorsey was born and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. His father worked with special machines called mass spectrometers, and his mother was a homemaker. He was raised in the Catholic faith.
He went to Bishop DuBourg High School. When he was younger, he sometimes worked as a fashion model. By age 14, he became very interested in how things are delivered or "dispatched," like taxis or emergency services.
In 1995, Dorsey started college at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. After two years, he moved to New York University in 1997. He left college two years later, just before he would have graduated. While studying in New York, he first thought of the idea that later became Twitter.
After college, Dorsey moved to California and worked as a programmer. In 2000, he started his own company in Oakland. This company helped dispatch couriers, taxis, and emergency services using the internet. He also had ideas for other projects, like networks for medical devices.
In July 2000, he had an idea for a website where people could share short, real-time updates about what they were doing. He was inspired by online journals and instant messaging programs. He wondered if people's "status updates" could be easily shared with friends.
He shared his idea with a company called Odeo, which was interested in text messaging. Dorsey and Biz Stone realized that SMS text messages would be perfect for short status updates. They built a first version of Twitter in about two weeks. Many people at Odeo liked the idea, and Evan Williams, a co-founder of Odeo, invested in it.
Jack Dorsey's Career
Leading Twitter
Jack Dorsey, along with Noah Glass, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone, helped create Odeo, which later became Twitter, Inc. Dorsey became Twitter's first CEO. As CEO, he helped the company get funding from investors.
When Twitter became more popular, Dorsey focused on making sure the website was always working. He believed that keeping the service running smoothly was more important than making money at first. He said Twitter's main ideas were simplicity, limits (like the character limit), and good design.
In October 2008, Evan Williams took over as CEO, and Dorsey became the chairman of the board. As chairman, Dorsey joined some trips with the U.S. State Department. For example, in 2009, he went to Iraq. In November 2009, during protests in Iran, Twitter was scheduled to shut down for maintenance. Dorsey agreed to delay this so people in Iran could keep using Twitter to communicate.
In March 2011, Dorsey returned to Twitter as executive chairman. In July 2015, he became the interim CEO again, and then the permanent CEO in October 2015.
In May 2016, Dorsey announced that Twitter would no longer count photos and links in the 140-character limit. This was done to give users more space for their messages and to attract new users.
On November 22, 2016, Dorsey's own Twitter account was briefly suspended by mistake. He later tweeted that it was an "internal mistake."
Twitter started using special computer programs to recommend tweets in 2016. In 2022, Dorsey said his biggest mistake was focusing on tools for Twitter to control public conversations, instead of giving users more tools to manage their own experience.
In February 2017, Dorsey and another executive, Omid Kordestani, donated money to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Their donation, combined with money from Twitter staff, totaled $1.59 million.
In March 2018, Dorsey announced that Twitter would improve its system for verifying user identities. The goal was to help people prove more facts about themselves.
In September 2018, Dorsey spoke to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. He talked about how social media was used by other countries to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
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Dorsey met privately with U.S. President Donald Trump in April 2019. They talked about Trump's concerns that Twitter might have limited some of his followers. After the meeting, Dorsey tweeted that they discussed making Twitter "healthier and more civil."
On August 30, 2019, someone hacked Dorsey's personal Twitter account for about an hour. The hackers posted many inappropriate tweets.
In October 2019, Twitter's stock price dropped. One reason was that Dorsey had decided to ban all political advertising on Twitter. He announced that this policy would start on November 22, 2019, and apply worldwide.
In February 2020, a company called Elliott Management wanted to remove Dorsey as CEO. However, they reached an agreement, and Dorsey remained CEO. In October 2020, Dorsey was asked to testify before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. They wanted to discuss a law that protects tech companies from being responsible for what users post.
Jack Dorsey announced his resignation as Twitter's CEO on November 29, 2021. He was replaced by Parag Agrawal, Twitter's former chief technology officer. Dorsey continued to lead Block, Inc. In May 2022, Dorsey left Twitter's board of directors.
In October 2022, when Elon Musk bought Twitter, Dorsey kept his 2.4% ownership in the company.
Creating Block (Square)
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In 2010, Dorsey and co-founder Jim McKelvey launched Square. This platform helps small businesses accept debit and credit card payments on a mobile device. The small, square-shaped device connects to iPhones, iPads, or Android phones through the headphone jack. It acts as a mini card reader, allowing people to swipe cards, choose an amount, and sign for confirmation. Square also sends paperless receipts by text or email.
The company grew quickly, from 10 employees in 2009 to over 100 by 2011. In September 2012, Business Insider magazine estimated Square Inc. was worth $3.2 billion. Dorsey was the CEO of Square, Inc. In October 2015, Square went public on the New York Stock Exchange. At that time, Dorsey owned 24.4% of the company. In March 2020, Square was allowed to open its own bank.
In May 2020, Dorsey announced that Square employees could work from home permanently.
On December 1, 2021, Jack Dorsey officially changed the company's name from Square, Inc. to Block, Inc. He was interested in blockchain technology, and the new name better described the company's different businesses beyond just payment services.
Bluesky Social
In February 2022, Dorsey joined the board of directors for Bluesky Social. This company is a spin-off from Twitter and is working on a new type of decentralized social network. In May 2024, he announced he was no longer on the board. He later supported X, calling it "freedom technology." Dorsey said he left Bluesky because it started to become more like a traditional company with central control.
Digital Currency and Other Interests
Jack Dorsey is a strong supporter of Bitcoin, a type of digital currency. He has said that if he wasn't working on Twitter and Square, he would be working on Bitcoin. He also supports and has helped fund the development of Nostr, another social networking idea.
In 2013, Dorsey said he admired Michael Bloomberg and hoped to become mayor of New York City someday. He also served as a judge for a competition in New York City in 2011.
On December 24, 2013, Dorsey joined the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company. In January 2018, he decided not to seek re-election because it became difficult to avoid conflicts of interest with his other work.
Dorsey is also a board member of the Berggruen Institute's Governance Center. He also shares advice in a chapter of Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.
Personal Life
In 2012, Jack Dorsey moved to the Sea Cliff neighborhood in San Francisco.
Meditation Practice
In 2015, Dorsey shared that he starts his mornings with meditation. In late 2017, he completed a ten-day meditation retreat called Vipassanā. In November 2018, he went on a Vipassanā meditation trip to Myanmar for his birthday.
Political Views
In 2019, Dorsey donated money to the campaigns of two presidential candidates, Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang. In 2020, he donated $15 million to help 29 mayors test out programs that give people a guaranteed basic income in the United States.
Until 2021, Twitter had special rules for "world leaders" like President Donald Trump, allowing them to post content that might otherwise be removed. After the U.S. Capitol was stormed on January 6, 2021, Twitter temporarily suspended Trump's account. On January 8, his account was permanently suspended. Dorsey defended the ban but also said it "sets a precedent I feel is dangerous." In November 2022, after Elon Musk bought Twitter, Trump's account was brought back.
In June 2023, Dorsey supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his campaign for president.
Helping Others
Jack Dorsey has made several large donations to help others.
- In March 2016, he fully funded about 600 public school projects in Missouri through a website called DonorsChoose.
- In October 2019, Dorsey donated $350,000 to #TeamTrees. This project, started by YouTubers MrBeast and Mark Rober, aimed to plant 20 million trees.
- On April 7, 2020, Dorsey announced he would move about $1 billion of his money from Square, Inc. to a fund called Start Small, LLC. This money was meant for COVID-19 relief, girls' education and health, and programs for universal basic income. He has donated $24 million to over 40 different groups for relief efforts.
- In August 2020, Dorsey donated $10 million to Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research.
- In May 2021, he donated $15 million to help with COVID-19 relief efforts in India.
Awards and Recognition
- In 2008, MIT Technology Review named him one of the top 35 innovators in the world under age 35.
- In 2012, The Wall Street Journal gave him the "Innovator of the Year Award" for technology.
- He was named "Founder of the Year" at the 5th Annual Crunchies Awards in 2012.
- In 2013, Forbes magazine called him the world's most eligible billionaire bachelor.
- In 2016, Fox Business ranked him as the No. 4 Worst CEO, mentioning slow growth and falling stock prices for Twitter.
- In 2017, 24/7 Wall St. also listed Dorsey among the 20 Worst CEOs in America.
Images for kids
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Dorsey in 2008
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Dorsey and President Barack Obama at a Twitter Town Hall in July 2011
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President Donald Trump with Dorsey in the Oval Office of the White House on April 23, 2019
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Dorsey in 2018
See also
In Spanish: Jack Dorsey para niños
