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Jack Dorsey: Inside the Life of the Twitter Cofounder and CEO - Business Insider

Tech

The fabulous life of Twitter cofounder and CEO, Jack Dorsey

Rebecca Borison

2014-08-05T17:50:00Z

Jack Dorsey Twitter Square Portrait Illustration

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Jack Dorsey is the cofounder and CEO of Twitter.

You know that platform called Twitter? Well Jack Dorsey is the man behind the world's first tweet.

He cofounded Twitter with Biz Stone and Evan Williams back in 2006, but Dorsey has since moved on to work on a new venture, payments startup Square.

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Dorsey first became a billionaire in 2012, and he is currently worth $1.9 billion. While he may not be the most lavish techie out there, Dorsey definitely manages to enjoy his wealth.

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Jack Dorsey was born in St. Louis on Nov. 19, 1976.

Baby Jack Dorsey

Source: Bio.

As a kid, Dorsey had a speech impediment and spent most of his time at home on the computer and listening to his parents' police scanner. His fascination with policemen's short bursts of talking later served as inspiration for the creation of Twitter.

Jack Dorsey

Source: CNET

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Dorsey began programming while attending Bishop DuBourg High School. At age 15, Dorsey wrote dispatch software that is still used by some taxi companies.

A young Jack Dorsey in front of a computer with a map of America behind him.

Source: Bio.

Dorsey frequently attended punk concerts as a teen when not checking out specialty electronics stores and running a fantasy football league for his friends.

jack dorsey young

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Like many of his fellow billionaires, Dorsey never graduated college, though he briefly attended Missouri University of Science and Technology and transferred to New York University before calling it quits.

New York University NYU Students Graduation Commencement

Source: Bio.

In 2000, Dorsey built a simple prototype that let him update his friends on his life via BlackBerry and email messaging. But nobody else really seemed interested, so he put away the idea for a bit. He got a job at a podcasting company called Odeo, where he met his future Twitter cofounders. Odeo went out of business in 2006, so Dorsey returned to his messaging idea, and Twitter was born.

jack dorsey

Source: The Unofficial Stanford Blog

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Dorsey and his cofounders Evan Williams and Biz Stone bought the Twitter domain name for roughly $7,000, and Dorsey took out his nose ring to look the part of CEO.

jack dorsey twitter money suitcase

Source: The Unofficial Stanford Blog and Bio.

In 2011, Dorsey got the chance to interview President Barack Obama in the first ever Twitter Town Hall.

Jack Dorsey and President Obama in Twitter Town Hall — President Barack Obama, right, talks to the audience during his first ever Twitter Town Hall with Jack Dorsey. Reuters

Source: Twitter

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But Dorsey was already on his way out from Twitter. Williams had taken over as CEO, and Dorsey transitioned to chairman of Twitter's board. But Dorsey immediately got started on some new projects. He invested in Foursquare and launched a payments startup called Square that lets small business owners accept credit card payments through a smartphone attachment.

Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey — Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey. Wikimedia Commons

Source: Twitter and Bio.

Twitter IPO-ed in November 2013, and within hours, Dorsey became a billionaire. He is currently worth $1.9 billion.

Jack Dorsey on CNBC

Source: Bio. and Forbes

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He might have been worth more had he not given back 10% of his stock to Square. This helped out Square employees, giving them more equity and stock options. It was also helpful in acquiring online ordering startup Caviar.

Jack Dorsey Sun Valley — Jack Dorsey with his girlfriend Kate Greer, Hollywood producer Brian Grazer, and Veronica Smiley at the annual Allen and Co. conference at the Sun Valley, Idaho Resort in 2013. Reuters

Source: Business Insider and Caviar

And while Dorsey is still working hard at Square, he has acknowledged that his dream job would be to serve as mayor of New York City. "[New York City is] kinda like being in a car in the middle of a thunderstorm, right," Dorsey told CBS News. "Everything is raging around you, but you're safe inside that car. So New York feels very much to me like that."

Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey

Source: Business Insider and CBS News

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In the meantime, he's spending his spare time serving on the board for Disney.

Jack Dorsey Disney

Source: Business Insider

According to his "Square Favorites," Dorsey's favorite things to buy include a $369 guitar, $799 bike, and a $7,500 painting of Uma Thurman.

Jack Dorsey Square favorites

Source: Square

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Dorsey knows how to take it easy, having been spotted on a luxury yacht with British model and actress Lily Cole back in 2012.

lily cole jack dorsey

Source: Business Insider

He also reportedly paid $9.9 million for this seaside house in on El Camino Del Mar in the exclusive Seacliff neighborhood of San Francisco.

Jack Dorsey home

Source: Business Insider

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And his first car was a BMW 3, though he claims to still ride the bus.

jack dorsey bmw new

Source: Business Insider

Some other fun facts about Dorsey: He apparently does not have a desk; he just works on an iPad. Oh, and he's also a licensed masseur.

Jack Dorsey with neon lights in the background.

Source: CBS News and The Wall Street Journal

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