Jack Dorsey is a renowned American entrepreneur, web developer, and businessman whose wealth stands at approximately $4 billion. Best known for his role as the co-founder and co-creator of Twitter, it is interesting to note that his substantial net worth is largely attributed to his significant stake in Square, a mobile payments company. Dorsey has also committed over $1 billion to charitable causes, funding this philanthropic pledge with shares from Square in April 2020.
When Elon Musk agreed to purchase Twitter in April 2022, Dorsey owned around 18 million shares, representing roughly 2% of Twitter’s total outstanding shares. With the acquisition price set at $54.20 per share, Dorsey’s 18 million shares were cashed out for approximately $974 million.
As of now, Dorsey owns around 43 million shares in Square, which was rebranded as Block Inc. These shares are valued at approximately $2.5 billion. He also holds around $1 billion in cash and other assets. However, in March 2023, his net worth experienced a decline of over $500 million due to a short-seller attack from Hindenburg on his payments company, Block.
Early Life
Born on November 19, 1976, in St. Louis, Missouri, Jack Dorsey developed an early passion for computers and communication. While attending Bishop DuBourg High School, he began programming and was particularly interested in coordinating fleets of vehicles like taxis and delivery vans that needed constant communication. At the age of 15, Dorsey created dispatch software that remains in use by some taxi companies to this day.
At 17, Dorsey famously hacked the website of New York City’s largest taxi dispatch company. As a “benevolent hacker,” he reached out to the company’s CEO to offer assistance in fixing the security vulnerability. This led to him being offered a job, prompting him to move to New York City and enroll at NYU.
In the late 1990s, amid the dotcom boom, Dorsey followed his boss from the dispatch company to San Francisco to launch a web business that unfortunately folded. He later joined a podcasting company, Odeo, founded by Evan Williams, who had previously established Blogger and later Medium.
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In 2006, Dorsey, along with Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass, held a brainstorming session to discuss potential new product ideas for Odeo. One idea that emerged was a microblogging and messaging service that Dorsey had tested using Blackberry phones during his time at NYU. The group was intrigued by the concept, which eventually evolved into what we now know as Twitter.
Instead of integrating “twttr” into Odeo, Evan Williams made the bold decision to return millions of dollars in funding to Odeo’s investors and launch Twitter as an entirely separate company. This decision sparked some discontent among Odeo’s investors, who felt sidelined by Twitter’s subsequent success.
Twitter’s Rise
Initially, Twitter was met with skepticism, with critics dismissing it as a platform for trivial self-expression. The site faced frequent technical issues in its early days. However, Twitter gained legitimacy and prominence as celebrities and CEOs began using it, and soon became a key tool for U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain to update supporters during their campaigns.
Dorsey, in addition to his involvement with Twitter, invested in the social networking site Foursquare and launched Square, a mobile payment company that allowed users to accept credit card payments via a small device plugged into their mobile phones or computers. In 2008, Dorsey was recognized as one of the top 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal named him “Innovator of the Year,” and in December 2013, Dorsey joined the board of directors at The Walt Disney Company.
Bluesky
In addition to his work at Twitter and Square, Dorsey also co-founded Bluesky, a social media platform that stemmed from Twitter. Bluesky aims to create a decentralized social network, representing Dorsey’s ongoing commitment to exploring innovative new technologies in the digital space.
Square: Revolutionizing Payments
In 2009, Jack Dorsey co-founded Square, a company that aimed to provide mobile payment solutions. The idea was inspired by a friend’s difficulty in selling products because they didn’t accept credit cards. Square revolutionized payment processing by offering a portable card reader that could plug into mobile devices like iPhones and iPads, enabling small businesses to accept credit card payments easily.
Square went public in November 2015, and while its initial market cap was $3 billion—falling short of its $6 billion private valuation—Square continued to grow. By February 2021, the company’s market cap surpassed $100 billion, significantly boosting Dorsey’s wealth. At that point, his net worth reached $16 billion, with approximately $15 billion of that value attributed to Square.
A Generous Donation: $1 Billion to Charity
In April 2020, Dorsey announced that he would be moving $1 billion worth of his Square shares into a newly formed LLC named Start Small. This donation, which represented 28% of his wealth, was dedicated to global COVID-19 relief efforts, women’s health, education, and Universal Basic Income (UBI). At the time, this donation constituted a large portion of his net worth, as his Twitter shares were worth only around $530 million.
Dorsey’s decision to allocate such a substantial portion of his wealth to charity stirred some criticism from Twitter investors, who felt that his commitment to Twitter’s operations was lacking. Dorsey had not been a regular presence at Twitter’s headquarters, and his absence was particularly noted in 2019 when he spent time visiting Twitter’s global offices while also attending a silent meditation retreat in Myanmar.
On April 7, 2020, Dorsey made the announcement via Twitter, stating, “I’m moving $1 billion of my Square equity (around 28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to find global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girls’ health and education and UBI [Universal Basic Income]. It will operate transparently…”
Since making the announcement, Dorsey’s philanthropy has continued. He made a $100,000 donation to America’s Food Fund and contributed $10 million to Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research in August 2020. In May 2021, he donated $15 million to support relief efforts for India’s COVID-19 second wave. By December 2020, Start Small had already donated $274 million, and the value of its remaining Square shares had appreciated, increasing the value of Dorsey’s donations.
Real Estate
Jack Dorsey’s real estate holdings reflect his wealth. In August 2018, he purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $4.22 million, which he sold for $4.6 million just a year later. His main residence since 2012 is a large home in San Francisco, which he bought for $10 million. In 2017, Dorsey expanded his property holdings by purchasing the adjacent house for $22 million. The sellers had originally bought the home in 1997 for $2.85 million.
While living in San Francisco, Dorsey is known for walking approximately 5 miles to work every day, embodying a minimalist lifestyle despite his vast wealth.
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