Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey
Born	Jack Patrick Dorsey 19 11, 1976
Birthplace	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Technology executive, entrepreneur
Title	Co-founder and Chairman, Block, Inc.
Known for	Co-founding Twitter and Block, Inc. (Square)
Website	[https://squareup.com/ Official site]

Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American technology executive and entrepreneur who co-founded two of the most consequential technology companies of the early 21st century: Twitter, the social media platform that redefined public discourse and real-time communication, and Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.), the financial services and digital payments company. Dorsey served as chief executive officer of Twitter from 2007 to 2008 and again from 2015 to 2021, while simultaneously leading Square (later Block) as its principal executive officer and chairman. He is also the founder of Bluesky, a decentralized social media protocol and application. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Dorsey displayed an early interest in the intersection of software and urban infrastructure, interests that would inform both of his major ventures. His career trajectory—from a college dropout tinkering with dispatch routing software to the head of two publicly traded companies—has made him one of the most prominent figures in American technology and finance. In recent years, Dorsey has become a vocal advocate for Bitcoin and decentralized technologies, guiding Block's strategic direction toward cryptocurrency integration and open-source protocols.

Early Life

Jack Patrick Dorsey was born on November 19, 1976, in St. Louis, Missouri. From a young age, Dorsey exhibited a fascination with cities, maps, and the movement of vehicles through urban environments. This interest led him to explore dispatch routing software and the logistics of real-time communication, subjects that would prove foundational to his later entrepreneurial pursuits.

Growing up in St. Louis, Dorsey was drawn to computers and programming during his adolescence. He became interested in the technical systems underlying emergency dispatch services, and by the time he was a teenager, he had begun writing dispatch software. His early work in this area attracted attention in the nascent open-source software community. Dorsey's curiosity about how cities functioned—the patterns of taxis, emergency vehicles, and couriers—would later converge with his interest in short-form, real-time messaging to produce the concept behind Twitter.

Dorsey's background in St. Louis, a city with a complex economic and social landscape, also influenced his later interest in financial technology and enabling small businesses to accept electronic payments—a motivation that would drive the creation of Square.

Education

Dorsey attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology (then known as the University of Missouri–Rolla) before transferring to New York University. He did not complete a degree at either institution, opting instead to pursue his technology interests in the professional world. While in New York, Dorsey continued to develop dispatch-related software and became immersed in the city's technology scene, which would later inspire both his aspiration to play a public role in urban life and his work on real-time communication platforms.

Career

Twitter

Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2006 alongside Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. The platform, which allowed users to post short messages of 140 characters (later expanded to 280), grew rapidly and became a central tool for public communication, news dissemination, and political discourse around the world. Dorsey is credited with proposing the original concept for the service, drawing on his longstanding interest in status updates and real-time dispatch communication.

Dorsey served as CEO of Twitter from 2007 to 2008. During this initial period, the company was still in its early stages, and Dorsey focused on product development and user growth. However, in 2008, Dorsey was moved from the CEO role to chairman of the board, amid reports of internal disagreements about the company's direction and operational management. The leadership transition was later described as a period of significant internal tension at the company.

In 2015, Dorsey returned as CEO of Twitter, succeeding interim CEO Dick Costolo. His second tenure was marked by efforts to address long-standing challenges including user growth stagnation, content moderation policies, and the platform's financial performance. Dorsey held the CEO position at Twitter concurrently with his role at Square, a dual arrangement that attracted both praise for his entrepreneurial capacity and criticism from investors and commentators who questioned whether one individual could effectively lead two publicly traded companies simultaneously.

Dorsey stepped down as CEO of Twitter in November 2021, handing the role to Parag Agrawal. Twitter was subsequently acquired by Elon Musk in 2022.

Bluesky

In addition to his work at Twitter, Dorsey founded Bluesky, an initiative to develop a decentralized social media protocol. The project, which began while Dorsey was still at Twitter, aimed to create an open standard for social networking that would not be controlled by any single corporation. Bluesky launched as an independent social media application, allowing users to post short messages of up to 300 characters in a format similar to Twitter's microblogging model. The project reflected Dorsey's growing interest in decentralization and open-source protocol development, themes that also informed his work at Block.

Square and Block, Inc.

Dorsey co-founded Square, Inc. in 2009, alongside Jim McKelvey. The company was conceived as a way to enable small businesses and individual merchants to accept credit card payments using a small card reader attached to a smartphone or tablet. The idea reportedly originated after McKelvey was unable to complete a sale of his glass artwork because he could not accept credit cards. Square's solution addressed a significant gap in the payments market, particularly for small merchants and mobile vendors who had previously been excluded from electronic payment processing.

Square's early headquarters were located in San Francisco, California. The company initially operated out of space in the city's historic Chronicle Building before opening new headquarters in 2013.

The company grew rapidly, expanding from its flagship card reader product into a broader ecosystem of financial services, including point-of-sale systems, small business lending, payroll services, and peer-to-peer payment application Cash App. By 2012, Square was ranked among the top digital companies by Business Insider.

Square filed for its initial public offering (IPO) in October 2015, during the same period that Dorsey was resuming the CEO role at Twitter. The IPO filing drew attention to Dorsey's dual leadership positions and to questions about Square's ownership structure and valuation.

In late 2021, Square, Inc. was renamed Block, Inc., reflecting the company's broadened focus beyond payment processing to include blockchain technology, Bitcoin mining, and decentralized financial services. Dorsey, who had become an outspoken proponent of Bitcoin, positioned Block as a company at the intersection of traditional financial services and cryptocurrency. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XYZ.

Under Dorsey's leadership, Block has pursued initiatives in Bitcoin adoption, including enabling small businesses to accept Bitcoin payments. In February 2026, reports indicated that Block was facilitating Bitcoin acceptance for small businesses with zero transaction fees, a move aimed at expanding cryptocurrency use in everyday commerce.

Dorsey has also faced scrutiny over his interest in Bitcoin. During Block's Investor Day in November 2025, a question was raised about whether Dorsey could be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin—a claim that Dorsey has not confirmed and that remains the subject of speculation rather than established fact.

Workforce Reductions and AI Strategy at Block (2026)

In early 2026, Block undertook significant workforce reductions. In February, reports indicated that the company was cutting up to 10% of its staff as part of annual performance reviews. The layoffs affected hundreds of employees and were followed by what reporting described as "rolling layoffs" that continued over subsequent weeks.

Simultaneously, Dorsey pushed an aggressive mandate for the adoption of artificial intelligence tools within the company. Employees were reportedly required to integrate AI into their workflows, a directive that generated internal dissatisfaction. Reports from Inc. and Futurism described employee backlash in response to the combination of mass layoffs and AI mandates, with some workers expressing concern about job security and the pace of organizational change. The situation drew media attention and raised questions about Dorsey's management approach and the future direction of Block.

Board Memberships

In December 2013, Dorsey was appointed to the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company, one of the youngest directors in Disney's history at the time. He served on the Disney board until January 2018, when he departed along with Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook.

Dorsey has also served on the board of the Berggruen Institute's governance center, reflecting his interest in issues related to governance, technology, and public policy.

Personal Life

Dorsey has spoken publicly about his interest in becoming involved in public life beyond technology. In a 2013 interview with CNN, he discussed his desire to potentially pursue a role such as Mayor of New York City, an ambition that reflected his longstanding fascination with urban systems and civic governance.

Dorsey is known for his interest in wellness practices, including meditation and fasting, which have been the subject of media coverage. He has cited Steve Jobs as an influence on his approach to product design and business leadership.

In 2019, Dorsey was among the supporters of #TeamTrees, a charitable campaign organized by YouTube creator MrBeast that aimed to plant 20 million trees. The initiative raised significant funds from technology industry figures and the general public.

Dorsey has been a prominent advocate for Bitcoin and has stated that he believes it has the potential to become the internet's native currency. This conviction has shaped his leadership at Block and his public commentary on the future of finance and technology.

Recognition

Dorsey has received recognition from multiple business and technology publications for his entrepreneurial work. In 2011, the San Francisco Business Times named him Executive of the Year, citing his dual leadership of Twitter and Square and his impact on the San Francisco technology ecosystem.

That same year, the New York City Mayor's office acknowledged Dorsey's contributions to the technology sector in a public statement.

Fortune profiled Dorsey in 2011 under the headline "The Man With Two Brains," highlighting the unusual nature of his simultaneous leadership of two major technology companies and his ability to conceptualize products across the distinct domains of social media and financial technology.

Dorsey's appointment to the Disney board in 2013 was itself considered a mark of his standing in the business world, given that Disney's board has historically included prominent business leaders and public figures.

In the fashion and design world, Women's Wear Daily profiled Dorsey's work at Square, noting his focus on simplifying commerce and his design-centric approach to financial technology products.

Legacy

Jack Dorsey's impact on the technology industry rests on two central contributions: the creation of a real-time, public, short-form messaging platform in Twitter, and the democratization of electronic payment acceptance through Square. Twitter, for all the controversies that later surrounded it, fundamentally altered how news was disseminated, how public figures communicated with audiences, and how protest movements organized. The platform's role in events ranging from the Arab Spring to U.S. presidential elections cemented its place in the history of digital communication.

Square, and its successor Block, addressed a practical economic problem—the exclusion of small merchants from electronic payments—and built a financial services ecosystem that expanded to include lending, payroll, and peer-to-peer transfers through Cash App. The company's pivot toward Bitcoin and blockchain under Dorsey's leadership represented a bet on decentralized finance that continued to shape its trajectory into 2026.

Dorsey's founding of Bluesky reflected a philosophical evolution in his thinking about social media, moving from the centralized model of Twitter toward a decentralized protocol that aimed to give users more control over their data and online interactions.

His career has also illustrated tensions inherent in technology leadership: the challenges of managing dual CEO roles, the friction between corporate restructuring and employee morale, and the difficulty of balancing innovation-driven mandates—such as the aggressive adoption of AI at Block—with organizational stability. As of early 2026, Dorsey remained at the helm of Block, navigating a period of significant organizational change while continuing to advocate for Bitcoin adoption and decentralized technologies.

References

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