Twitter ousted Jack Dorsey in 2008. In 2015 he ran it again.
The idea for Twitter was Dorsey's, and he was its chief executive from May 2007. In October 2008 his co-founder Evan Williams took over. Williams wrote that the board agreed it was "the best way forward" for Dorsey to become chairman.
According to Nick Bilton's book Hatching Twitter, Williams had put it bluntly: "You can either be a dressmaker or the C.E.O. of Twitter. But you can't be both."
Dorsey later said it felt "like being punched in the stomach." He went on to co-found Square with Jim McKelvey in 2009. In 2014, sellers using Square processed $23.8 billion in card payments.
In June 2015, Twitter named him interim chief executive. Williams sat on the committee searching for a permanent one. On September 30, 2015, the board picked Dorsey, and he stayed chief executive of Square too.
Square's filing to list on the stock market said Dorsey would divide his time between the two companies. Twitter appointed him knowing that. It had its co-founder as CEO again, but not his full-time attention.
AI-generated illustration with narration by an AI voice.
Would your board appoint a returning CEO who was still running another company?
Square
What the captions say
- This is the story of how Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey lost the chief executive job in 2008, and got it back six years later.
- The idea for Twitter was his. Losing the top job meant watching his co-founder run the thing he had invented.
- But according to journalist Nick Bilton's book, Dorsey was taking fashion classes. And his co-founder, Evan Williams, gave him a choice.
- Williams told him, "You can either be a dressmaker or the C.E.O. of Twitter. But you can't be both."
- That October, Williams wrote that the board agreed he should take over. Dorsey became chairman, no longer running the company.
- Dorsey later told Vanity Fair, "It was like being punched in the stomach."
- He later called Square the good that came of it. His old boss, Jim McKelvey, made art but couldn't take credit cards.
- In 2009, the two of them founded Square, a company that lets small sellers take card payments.
- In 2014, sellers using Square processed $23.8 billion in card payments.
- In June 2015, Twitter's chief executive Dick Costolo said he would step down. The board named Dorsey interim boss.
- On the committee picking a permanent boss sat Evan Williams, who replaced him.
- On September 30, 2015, the board made its choice. Jack Dorsey was Twitter's chief executive again.
- That quarter, Twitter reported 316 million monthly users. Dorsey kept running Square, which went public that November.
- Bilton's book says he was once told to choose between dressmaking and Twitter. Now he ran two companies at once.
