Jack Dorsey
Co-founder of Twitter and founder of Block
Born 1976
Built payment infrastructure at Block and has publicly funded Bitcoin development and open protocol work.
Biography
Jack Dorsey is an American technology entrepreneur, born in St. Louis in 1976. He co-founded Twitter in 2006 and served two separate terms as its chief executive, and in 2009 he founded Square, a payments company that began by letting small sellers accept card payments through a reader attached to a phone. Square was renamed Block in 2021. For several years he ran both companies at once, an arrangement that drew persistent criticism from investors in each.
His relevance to money rather than to social media comes from Block. The company built payment infrastructure aimed at sellers and businesses that the existing card networks served poorly or expensively, and later added consumer financial services through its Cash App product, including the ability to buy and hold Bitcoin.
From around 2019 he directed company resources toward Bitcoin specifically rather than toward crypto assets generally. Block added Bitcoin to its own balance sheet, funded independent developers through an initiative that placed them outside the company's control, and invested in mining and hardware work. He has consistently described Bitcoin as an open payment protocol rather than as a speculative holding, and has said he does not intend to sell.
He left Twitter in November 2021, shortly before its sale, and has since focused on Block and on open protocol projects for social networking. His public position is that the important property of these systems is that no single company, including his own, can control them.
Career timeline
- 1976Born in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 2006Co-founds Twitter and serves as its first chief executive.
- 2009Founds Square, a payments company for small sellers.
- 2015Returns as chief executive of Twitter while continuing to run Square.
- 2021Square is renamed Block; he steps down as chief executive of Twitter in November.
Open protocols over company control
The consistent thread in his public reasoning is that the important networks should not be owned. He has argued that a payment system or a social network becomes more useful and more durable when no company can change its rules unilaterally, including the company he runs, and he has funded work explicitly structured so that Block could not direct it. That position sits awkwardly with running a public company whose value depends on the products built on those networks, and he has acknowledged the tension rather than resolved it.
His interest in Bitcoin follows from that rather than from a view about price. He treats it as an open payment protocol that anyone can build on, which is why the company's work has gone into access, hardware and developer funding rather than into trading products, and why he distinguishes it sharply from crypto assets in general.
Key ideas
Tap any idea to expand a plain-English explanation, why it matters, and where to learn more.
Payments as infrastructure for small sellers
Building card acceptance and financial services for sellers the existing networks served poorly or expensively.
It is the original Square insight and the reason the company grew, and it framed his later view of payment networks.
A card reader attached to a phone let very small businesses accept payments they previously could not.
Bitcoin as an open protocol
Treating Bitcoin as payment infrastructure anyone can build on rather than as an asset to trade.
It explains why the company funded developers and hardware instead of building trading products.
Block placed funding for independent Bitcoin developers outside its own control.
Networks nobody owns
The argument that important networks should be built so no single company can change their rules.
It is his stated reason for backing open protocols even where it limits what his own company can capture.
He has funded open social networking protocol work structured to be independent of Block.
Corporate Bitcoin holdings
Holding Bitcoin on a company balance sheet as a long-term position rather than a trading one.
It is a concentrated exposure that ties part of a company's reported results to a volatile asset.
Block added Bitcoin to its balance sheet and has said it does not intend to sell.
Major contributions
- Co-founded Twitter in 2006 and served two terms as its chief executive.
- Founded Square in 2009, building card acceptance and financial services for small sellers.
- Directed Block toward Bitcoin as an open payment protocol, including developer funding placed outside company control.
- Backed open protocol work for social networking intended to be independent of any single company.
Influence on investors
He is the most prominent example of a public company chief executive treating Bitcoin as infrastructure to build on rather than as a treasury bet or a trading product, which is a different position from the corporate-holdings argument associated with Michael Saylor and is often contrasted with it.
Criticisms and debates
A balanced view includes the main criticisms and open debates, presented neutrally.
- Running Twitter and Square simultaneously drew sustained objections from investors in both companies, who argued that neither had his full attention.
- Holding Bitcoin on a corporate balance sheet ties part of a company's reported results to a volatile asset, and the objections raised against that practice generally apply here too.
- His advocacy for networks nobody owns sits in tension with running a public company that profits from products built on them, a criticism he has acknowledged without resolving.
- His tenure at Twitter is judged very differently depending on the observer, and the disputes over content moderation during that period remain contested.
Lessons for investors
Plain-English takeaways. Context for learning, not advice to buy or sell anything.
- 1Ask whether a network can be changed by whoever owns it, because that determines how durable its rules are.
- 2Notice when someone funds work deliberately placed outside their own control, and what that signals about the goal.
- 3Treat a company holding a volatile asset on its balance sheet as a decision that changes the company's risk.
- 4Separate a person's argument about infrastructure from the commercial interest they hold in it.
Notable quotes
“Bitcoin changes absolutely everything. I do not think there is anything more important in my lifetime to work on.”
Frequently asked questions
Who is Jack Dorsey?
An American technology entrepreneur born in 1976 who co-founded Twitter in 2006 and founded the payments company Square, renamed Block in 2021, in 2009.
What is Block?
The payments company he founded as Square in 2009. It began with card acceptance for small sellers and later added consumer financial services, including the ability to buy and hold Bitcoin.
Why does he focus on Bitcoin specifically?
He describes it as an open payment protocol rather than an asset class, and has distinguished it from crypto assets generally. Block's work has gone into access, hardware and independent developer funding.
Is he still at Twitter?
No. He stepped down as chief executive in November 2021 and later left the board. He has since focused on Block and on open protocol projects.
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Educational content only. This is a neutral summary compiled for learning. It is not an endorsement, not investment advice, and not a claim that this person is always right. Mentioning someone here does not imply they are affiliated with Money Masters Media.