Twitter’s Former CEO Jack Dorsey’s Journey: From Microblogging Pioneer to Billionaire

Jack Dorsey on Monday stepped down as the chief executive officer of Twitter, the social media firm he helped found in 2006 and steered through a high-profile hack and the controversial banning of former US President Donald Trump.

Dorsey, who also helms fintech firm Square, will be succeeded by Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal.

Here is a timeline of milestones in Dorsey tenure at Twitter:

2006: Typed out the microblogging platform’s first post: “just setting up my twttr”.

2008: Co-founder Evan Williams took over as CEO after the board pushed Dorsey out. Dorsey assumed the role of chairman.

2013: Twitter went public at a valuation of $31 billion (roughly Rs. 2,32,400 crore).

2015: Dorsey returned as CEO after Dick Costolo stepped down.

2017: A Twitter employee on his last day deactivated then US President Donald Trump’s account which was restored 11 minutes later.

2018: Twitter increased the character limit of tweets to 280 from 140, sparking a mixed reaction in twitterverse.

2020: Activist hedge fund Elliott Management pushed for changes, including the removal of Dorsey as CEO.

2020: Twitter reached an agreement with Elliott to add three new directors for letting Dorsey stay on as CEO.

2021: In the wake of the riots at the Capitol, Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account, with the company citing a risk of further incitement of violence.

2021: Twitter outlined plans in February to attain at least $7.5 billion (roughly Rs. 56,230 crore) in annual revenue and 315 million monetisable daily active users, or those who see ads, by the end of 2023.

2021: In March, Dorsey sold his first tweet as a non-fungible token (NFT) – a kind of unique digital asset – for just over $2.9 million (roughly Rs. 21,745 crore).

2021: Former US President Donald Trump in July filed lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook, and Alphabet’s Google, as well as their chief executives, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative viewpoints.

2021: The company said it had 211 million average monetisable daily active users, as of the three months ended September 30.

2021: Dorsey’s net worth is $11.8 billion (roughly Rs. 88,500 crore) as of November 29, according to Forbes.

© Thomson Reuters 2021