We’ve witnessed the rise of numerous tech moguls, but only a few of them can lace the boots of Jack Dorsey, in terms of skill, expertise, or even wealth. Dorsey is famous for creating Twitter, which is now one of the world’s largest social media platforms—if not the largest. The renowned American philanthropist worth $4 billion constantly donates his wealth and knowledge to younger generations interested in technology.
Jack Dorsey entered the limelight through the establishment of the Twitter social media platform. However, Twitter is surprisingly not the main source of his dumbfounding net worth. The successful businessman has investments in other sectors, including Square, a popular mobile payments company. He is also a public speaker, an award-winning innovator, and a public political commentator. Let’s look into Jack Dorsey’s life and career workings, revealing his net worth in the process.
Jack Dorsey: Early Life and Education
Jack Patrick Dorsey (@jack) was born on November 19, 1976, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent most of his childhood. His father, Tim Dorsey, worked for a company that produces mass spectrometers, while his mother, Marcia Dorsey, was a homemaker. Jack took after his father in terms of his interest in technological development. He refined this interest while studying at Bishop DuBourg High School. Jack began his tech career by developing dispatch software to help coordinate taxi drivers, deliver vans, etc. He was only 15 at that time!
Jack Dorsey enrolled at the University of Missouri-Rolla and attended for 2 years and a few months. Later, he transferred to New York University in 1997, but he dropped out two years later. At age 17, Jack Dorsey hacked the website of New York’s largest taxi dispatch company. In a bid to sell himself out, he emailed the company’s CEO, offering to help fix the issue. He secured the gig and later became a full-time employee at the company. Subsequently, Jack relocated to New York City, where he enrolled at NYU.
In 2000, Dorsey left the company to establish his dispatch company in Oakland. Next, Jack became a host for a podcast company, Odeo—which was established by Evan Williams. It was during one of Odeo’s podcasts featuring Jack, Evan, and Noah Glass the thought of Twitter came up. In what was later described as a “daylong brainstorming session,” the team envisaged a microblogging/messaging platform, nicknamed “project twttr.” Later, the title morphed into the Twitter that we now know as X today.
This innovation kickstarted the journey to personal and financial success for Jack Dorsey, setting him among the world’s richest in the subsequent years. Since Twitter, Dorsey has established himself as a distinguished entrepreneur, and tech guru, and also has input in the crypto space.
What is Jack Dorsey’s Net Worth in 2024?
At the time of writing, Jack Dorsey’s net worth is estimated to be around $4 billion, according to Forbes. This amount places the American tech guru among the top 1000 wealthiest individuals in the world, being the 822nd person as of August 1, 2024. Much of Jack’s wealth stems from his shares in the mobile payment company Block, formerly called Square. He also made a significant profit in 2022 from the sale of Twitter, of which he held the largest share.
Jack Dorsey also co-founded a Twitter spinoff in early 2022 and is assumed to have made a little income, which must’ve positively affected his $4 billion net worth. In March 2023, Jack Dorsey’s net worth suffered a huge blow following the publication of a report that Block ignored widespread fraud occurring through the platform. His net worth initially plunged by $526 million within 24 hours, and it continued dropping for a few months before regaining its balance.
In the following sections, we shall dissect the various ventures that earned Jack Dorsey his net worth.
Following the 2006 brainstorming session with Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass, Jack conceptualized Twitter and began to work on it immediately. In its early months of inception, Twitter was ridiculed by several critics, who called it a broadcasting tool for the shallow and self-centered. Twitter was, however, not created as a means of income for Jack—not until 2008, when Williams became the CEO, and Jack was the chairman of the board.
The previous criticisms soon stopped as Twitter grew in popularity, with celebrities and CEOs began ‘tweeting,’ and new users flocked in from all parts of the world. In 2016, Twitter gained more popularity and became a platform for diverse controversy.
This was bolstered by the actions of US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, who used Twitter to recruit and update their supporters. Controversies also ensued in November 2009, in the buildup to the Iranian Green Revolution. The consequences include the establishment of new Twitter policies, and the influx of new users, especially those from Iran who supported the revolution.
On March 28, 2011, Jack Dorsey became Twitter’s executive chairman after Dick Costolo replaced Evan Williams as CEO. In 2015, Costolo announced his resignation, and Jack became Twitter’s new CEO on July 1, 2015. Within four years after Jack Dorsey became the CEO, Twitter’s stock price rose to about $39 per share, although it has witnessed numerous fluctuations ever since.
Dorsey reportedly amassed a total of $1.40 million in annual salary from Twitter. He resigned as Twitter’s CEO on November 29, 2021, and was replaced by Parag Agrawal later that year. Twitter was later sold to Elon Musk the following year for $44 billion, with Jack Dorsey receiving a huge proportion of the money. He, however, retained his 2.4% ownership of Twitter even after it was sold.
Block (formerly called Square)
In 2009, Dorsey released Square: a small business platform that accepts debit and credit card payments on mobile devices. The device attaches to some iOS and Android devices via the headphone jack, allowing users to complete a transaction by simply swiping their cards. Square also allows users to send digital receipts via text messages or email and is available as a free download app for iOS and Android. Jack Dorsey assumed the position of CEO and head official in the company right from its creation.
Square went public five years after its initial release, hitting a $3 billion market cap on its first day of trading. At that period in 2015, Jack Dorsey owned 24.4% of the company, and he continued to acquire more shares as the company grew into a blowout success. Square witnessed a constant meteoric rise in its market valuation in the subsequent years, reaching $3.2 billion in 2012. In February 2021, the company’s market cap hit $100 billion for the first time since its creation. This massive pump accounted for over 90% of Dorsey’s wealth, which was roughly estimated at $3.5 billion.
Square also grew in terms of employees; from having 10 employees in 2009, the company’s workforce rose to over 100 by June 2011. In May 2020, Dorsey announced that the entire workers of Square would permanently become remote workers. However, Dorsey was later influenced by his interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency trading, leading him to rename Square as Block, Inc.
Bluesky Socials
As mentioned earlier, Bluesky was built to resemble the Twitter platform, providing messaging and social networking services to diverse users. Jack Dorsey joined the board of directors of the company in February 2022 and supported the creation of the social media app. Two years down the line, however, Jack Dorsey seemed to lose faith in the project, announcing that he was no longer on the board on May 5, 2024.
Instead, Jack Dorsey became a public advocate for his former company, Twitter (which was already renamed to X by Elon Musk). He claimed that he left Bluesky due to their shift in protocol and focus: the company was originally developing a decentralized social networking protocol and app, but later introduced centralized tools and shifted towards a traditional corporate structure.
Is Jack Dorsey a Fan of Cryptocurrency Trading?
Yes, the American tech innovator is a famous supporter of venturing into the crypto space. He is most particular about the Bitcoin asset, speaking in support of purchasing and holding the coin at Bitcoin conferences, such as “The B World.” Once before, Jack Dorsey claimed that if he wasn’t so invested in the creation of Twitter and Square (Block), he would be working on Bitcoin.
Jack Dorsey’s Philanthropic Activities
Dorsey is a renowned philanthropist, donating to fund projects and assist populations within and beyond the United States. Starting in March 2016, Jack Dorsey successfully funded 600 public schools in Missouri, registered as DonorsChoose. In 2019, Dorsey donated $350,000 to TeamTrees to support the planting of 20 million trees by the end of 2019.
However, Jack Dorsey’s most prominent philanthropic act happened in April 2020, when he announced that he would move about $1 billion of his wealth from Block, Inc. to Start Small LLC. The platform is aimed at providing COVID-19 relief and also focuses on women’s health, education, and universal basic income. The interesting part of that story was that $1 billion equals just below one-third of his total wealth, while his equity at Twitter was just around $530 million. Jack Dorsey also donated about $25 million to over 40 grantees for relief efforts.
