Who is Jack Dorsey? The billionaire tech founder and Bluesky boss who ran Twitter before Elon Musk

Published

2 years ago

July 5, 2023

admin

As Elon Musk drags Twitter and its users through more and more turbulence, its founder Jack Dorsey has made a supportive observation from the sidelines.

He posted that “Running Twitter is hard” and “it’s easy to critique the decisions from afar”.

The 46-year-old billionaire left the platform he co-founded in 2006 to launch what he calls a “decentralised” alternative, which looks a lot like Twitter.

But while Dorsey rolls out Bluesky Social and continues to sing the praises of Bitcoin, Twitter users are left at the whim of his former favourite Tweeter.

Here Sky News looks at how Twitter’s founder got to where he is.

Self-made taxi dispatch developer

Dorsey was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1976. His father developed spectrometers.

By the time he was 14 he’d developed an unusual interest in the software that dispatches taxis.

He went to the University of Missouri-Rolla at 19 and transferred to New York University two years later, but dropped out a semester before he was due to graduate.

Instead he moved to California, where he created his own company to send out taxis, couriers and emergency service vehicles via the internet.

While working as a programmer for the dispatch platform in 2000, he decided he wanted to create a messaging service to update his friends on what he was doing – without having to sit in front of a computer.

He approached a podcasting company called Odeo, where he got a job alongside Christopher ‘Biz’ Stone, Evan Williams and Noah Glass – who would become his Twitter co-founders.

Although Dorsey had been inspired by instant messaging platforms such as AOL and MSN, he and Stone decided a text-based service would better suit his status-update idea.

In two weeks they’d built a prototype for Twitter.

When Odeo went out of business in 2006, Dorsey returned to the messaging idea and officially launched ‘Twittr’ in March that year, making himself chief executive.

Overnight billionaire

Dorsey secured the support of venture capitalists and as celebrities signed up the app grew in popularity.

Two years later, Dorsey moved from chief executive to chairman of the board, reportedly having often left work early to prioritise hobbies such as yoga and fashion design.

When he was younger he briefly dabbled with modelling.

In 2009 he courted controversy after joining a US State Department trip to Iraq. Designed to rebuild tech hopes there after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the trip itself was fairly uneventful.

But later that year when the Green Revolution happened, Dorsey agreed to reschedule planned maintenance to Twitter’s servers so protesters could still communicate.

It was seen as a breach of policy given President Barack Obama had promised the US would not meddle in Iraq’s affairs. Dorsey went to Russia on another State Department delegation the following year.

In 2011 he invited Mr Obama to Twitter’s first ever town hall – where he had to remind him to keep his answers to 140 characters.

Two years later, although it hadn’t been launched with profit in mind, Twitter became a listed company, making Dorsey an overnight billionaire.

When in 2015 the company’s replacement chief executive Dick Costolo announced his resignation, Dorsey returned as interim – but took up the post on a permanent basis in October.

Meanwhile back in 2010 Dorsey had begun splitting his time between Twitter and a new venture – Square – technology that transformed smartphones and tablets into debit card readers for small businesses.

But as competitors launched rival products, it began to struggle with losses of up to $100million (£79m).

Dorsey rebranded Square ‘Block’ in 2021, in reference to his interest in Blockchain, officially giving himself the job title ‘Block Head’ in 2022.

Back at Twitter in 2016, the 140-character limit was effectively increased by no longer including links or photos in the count. The decision was a bid to attract new users – as the number of daily tweets had fallen globally.

A year later it increased again – doubling to 280 characters.

Tech moving faster than policy

In 2018, Twitter and other social media platforms began having to answer to the US government.

The first time Dorsey testified, alongside then-Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, he was quizzed on interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Hours of questioning saw Dorsey post a picture of his heartrate on Twitter. The platform was also accused of anti-Conservative bias, share prices fell, and the decision was made to ban all political advertising the following year.

During his time in office, Dorsey met with President Donald Trump, who had expressed concern his followers were being removed.

Dorsey oversaw misinformation warning labels applied to some of Mr Trump’s tweets during his 2020 election campaign and the permanent suspension of his account following the Capitol riots of January 2021.

Mr Trump set up his own platform – Truth Social, while Dorsey stuck by the ban, but also expressed concerns it set a “dangerous precedent”.

He appeared before Congress on two other occasions as Twitter boss – once in October 2020 and again the following month.

The first time, in front of the US Senate Commerce Committee, he answered questions alongside Facebook and Google executives about a law that protects tech companies for being prosecuted over content generated on their platforms.

Dorsey said changing it would “collapse how we communicate on the Internet”.

The following month he gave evidence alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on how content was moderated around the 2020 election.

When COVID emerged in 2020 the Twitter founder promised to donate $1bn (£0.79bn) of his total wealth to relief programmes.

The following year when the Delta variant hit India, he donated £15m (£11.8m) to support programmes there.

The pandemic scuppered plans he’d announced in 2019 to move to Africa. He said the continent would “define the future (especially the bitcoin one!)”.

Musk takes Twitter

Dorsey and Musk’s relationship predates his ill-fated takeover.

When in 2020 it was reported that one of Twitter’s investors Elliott Management was trying to replace Dorsey as chief executive, Musk tweeted his support, saying he had a “good heart”.

In return, Dorsey said Musk was one of his favourite Twitter users and that his updates “focused on solving existential problems and sharing his thinking openly”.

The founder added that he enjoyed the “ups and downs” of Musk’s use of his site – something he may have later come to regret – to which Musk replied: “Twitter rocks!”

They shared an enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies, with Dorsey describing Bitcoin – or ‘The B Word’ as he calls it – as “direct activism against an… exclusionary financial system”.

In late-2021 Dorsey announced he was leaving Twitter in a staff email posted to his account, claiming he wanted to move the firm away from its “founding and founders”.

Musk, believed to be the wealthiest person in the world, began buying shares in Twitter at the beginning of 2022.

By April he was the biggest shareholder, with a 9.1% stake.

He was invited to join the board of directors – and despite initially turning the role down – then made an unsolicited offer to buy the entire company for $44bn (£34.5bn).

By July, Musk had said he wanted to back out of the deal as Twitter had failed to uphold its promise of cracking down on spambot accounts.

The move triggered legal action against Musk – who just weeks before a trial was due to start in Delaware – gave in and decided to go ahead, closing the deal in November.

Musk began by firing half Twitter’s employees, including the chief executive, which then triggered mass resignations.

After a tumultuous few months in the job, in which he expressed regret for buying the platform, he has made several chaotic changes and given up the job of chief executive.

Beginnings of Bluesky

Dorsey, meanwhile has been working on a Twitter successor, Bluesky Social.

He started it in 2019, but soft launched it with a beta version in late-2022.

Having seen Twitter grow at dizzying speed, he is rolling out membership on an invite-only basis.

Bluesky is a “decentralised” platform, which Dorsey hopes will stop the kind of hostile concentration of power we’ve seen with Musk.

He retains a 2.4% stake in Twitter.

Business

Government considering measure to slash industrial energy prices

Published

4 hours ago

June 19, 2025

admin

Government considering measure to slash industrial energy prices

Ministers are considering a commitment to cut soaring industrial energy prices for British companies to the same level enjoyed by competitors in France and Germany as part of its industrial strategy.

Sky News understands proposals to make energy prices more competitive are at the heart of final discussions between the Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury ahead of the publication of its industrial strategy on Monday.

Industrial electricity prices in the UK are the highest in the G7 and 46% above the median for the 32 member states of the International Energy Agency, which account for 75% of global demand.

In 2023, British businesses paid £258 per megawatt-hour for electricity compared to £178 in France and £177 in Germany, according to IEA data. Matching those prices will require a reduction of around 27% at a cost of several billion pounds.

Money blog: Interest rate held – but Bank of England gave ‘small surprise’

Earlier this month, automotive giant Nissan said UK energy prices make its Sunderland plant its most expensive in the world.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds is understood to be sympathetic to business concerns, and chancellor Rachel Reeves told the CBI’s annual dinner the issue of energy prices “is a question we know we need to answer”.

Extending relief

While around 350 companies in energy-intensive industries, including steel, ceramics and cement, enjoy some relief from prices through the energy supercharger scheme, which refunds 60% of network charges and is expected to rise to 90%, there is currently no support for manufacturers.

Sky News understands ministers are considering introducing a similar scheme to support the 200,000 manufacturing businesses in the UK.

Cutting network costs entirely could save more than 20% from electricity prices.

Explainer: Why are UK industrial electricity prices so high?

The mechanism for delivering support is expected to require consultation before being introduced to ensure only businesses for whom energy is a central cost would benefit. This could be based on the proportion of outgoings spent on energy bills.

It is not clear how the scheme would be funded, but the existing industrial supercharger is paid for by a levy on energy suppliers that is ultimately passed on to customers.

A central demand

Bringing down prices, particularly for electricity, has been the central demand of business and industry groups, with Make UK warning high prices are rendering businesses uncompetitive and risk “deindustrialising” the UK.

The primary driver of high electricity costs in the UK is wholesale gas, which both underpins the grid and sets the price in the market, even in periods when renewables provide the majority of supply.

Why are costs so high?

Wholesale prices account for around 39% of bills, with operating costs and network charges – the cost of using and maintaining the grid – making up another 25%, and VAT 20%.

Business groups, including the manufacturers group Make UK, have called for a reduction in those additional charges, as well as the so-called policy costs that make up the final 16% of bills.

These are made up of levies and charges introduced by successive governments to encourage and underwrite the construction of renewable sources of power.

Make UK estimate that shifting policy costs into general taxation would cost around £3.8bn, but pay for itself over time in increased growth.

Government sources confirmed that energy prices are a central issue that the industrial strategy will address, but said no final policy decisions have been agreed.

The industrial strategy, which is delayed from its scheduled publication earlier this month, will set out the government’s plans to support eight sectors identified as having high-growth potential, including advanced manufacturing, life sciences, defence and creative industries.

Business

Why are UK industrial electricity prices so high – and what can be done about it?

Published

4 hours ago

June 19, 2025

admin

Why are UK industrial electricity prices so high - and what can be done about it?

Britain has the highest industrial electricity prices in the G7, a cost businesses say makes it impossible to compete internationally and risks “deindustrialising” the UK.

Electricity prices are driven by wholesale fuel prices, particularly natural gas, but include taxes and “policy costs” that business groups, including Make UK and the CBI, want the government to cut.

Sky News understands the issue is a “live discussion” within government as ministers finalise the government’s industrial strategy, due to be published next week.

Money blog: Interest rate held – but Bank of England gave ‘small surprise’

So what are the options, and why are prices so high in the first place?

How much does UK business pay for electricity?

Industrial electricity prices in 2023 were 46% higher than the average of the 32 members of the International Energy Agency, a group that includes EU and G7 nations that, between them, account for 75% of global demand.

UK businesses paid an average of £258 per megawatt-hour, according to IEA data – higher than Italy (£218), France (£178) and Germany (£177), and more than four times the £65 paid on average in the USA.

While wholesale prices have been driven up in the last five years by external factors including post-pandemic demand and the Ukraine war, this is not a blip – UK prices have been consistently above the IEA average for decades.

Why are prices so high?

The main determinant is exposure to wholesale gas markets. Gas underpins the UK grid, reliably filling the gaps renewables and nuclear sources cannot fill. Crucially, gas also sets the price in the electricity market even when it is not the primary source of energy.

The UK market uses a “marginal pricing system”, in which the price is set by the last, and thus most expensive, unit of power required to meet demand at any one time.

That means that while renewable sources, initially offered at a cheaper price, may provide the majority of power in a given period, the price for all sources is set by gas-fired power stations providing the balance of supply.

Industrial electricity bills are lower in markets that are less exposed to gas. In France, gas sets the price less than 10% of the time because its fleet of nuclear power stations underpin supply.

What makes up electricity bills?

The biggest single element of electricity prices is wholesale gas costs, which make up 39% of the bill, according to industrial supplier SEFE.

The next largest element is “network costs”, charges imposed for using, maintaining and expanding the grid, which account for 23%. Operating costs are 2%, with VAT adding a further 20%.

The remaining 16% of electricity bills is made up of “policy costs”, levies and payments introduced over the last two decades to subsidise the construction of renewable power capacity, primarily wind power.

Increasing renewable supply and storage to reduce exposure has been the long-term solution favoured by successive governments. Sir Keir Starmer‘s administration has a target of shifting to a “clean power” grid by 2030 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, a target Kemi Badenoch describes as “impossible”.

Some energy-intensive industries (EII), such as chemicals, steel, and cement, already receive support, with a 60% relief on network charges and a reduction of around 10% from the British Industry Supercharger fund, which the government is considering increasing.

What does business want?

Business groups are calling for these policy costs to be lifted and shifted into general taxation, calculating that a 15% reduction in prices would give them a chance of competing more equitably.

Make UK say cutting policy costs would cut 15% from bills, and is also proposing a “contract for difference” for manufacturers’ electricity, a model borrowed from the renewables market.

Under the plan, the government would guarantee a “strike price” for electricity 10% lower than the wholesale price. When prices are higher, the taxpayer would refund business, and when they are lower, industry would pay back the difference.

Make UK estimate the cost to the exchequer of £3.8bn. They believe it will be cost-neutral courtesy of increased growth. The alternative, they say, is an uncompetitive manufacturing sector doomed to decline.

“We need to see the government remove those costs in the industrial strategy,” says Make UK chief executive Stephen Phipson.

“We believe it will be cost-neutral because of the benefit to the economy of retaining manufacturing in this country. If we don’t see it happen, we will risk deindustrialising the United Kingdom.”

A government spokesperson said: “Through our sprint to clean power, we will get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets – protecting business and household finances with clean, homegrown energy that we control.”

Business

Bank of England holds rate but eyes cuts ahead despite global risks

Published

10 hours ago

June 19, 2025

admin

Bank of England holds rate but eyes cuts ahead despite global risks

The Bank of England has signalled that a weakening labour market could yet trump rising global challenges to allow for more interest rate cuts in the near term.

Policymakers on the nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 7-3 to maintain Bank rate at 4.25%.

There was greater support than was expected for a cut.

The Bank had previously signalled that a majority on the committee were cautious about the effects of global instability – especially the on-off US trade war.

Money latest: What interest rate decision means for your money

But the minutes of the Bank’s meeting showed there was a greater focus on a rising jobless rate and evidence that employers are shedding jobs – indicating it had dominated the meeting.

It acknowledged, however, that there were potential challenges from the on-off US trade war and as a result of the Israel-Iran conflict.

The barrage of warheads has already resulted in double-digit percentage spikes to oil and natural gas prices in the space of a week.

“Interest rates remain on a gradual downward path,” governor Andrew Bailey said while adding that there was no pre-set path.

“The world is highly unpredictable. In the UK we are seeing signs of softening in the labour market. We will be looking carefully at the extent to which those signs feed through to consumer price inflation,” he added.

The Bank maintained its core message that it would take a “gradual” and “careful” approach.

“Energy prices had risen owing to an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The committee would remain vigilant about these developments and their potential impact on the UK economy,” the Bank said.

The rise in the UK’s jobless rate, along with recent data on payrolled employment, has been linked to a business backlash against budget measures, which kicked in in April, that saw employer national insurance contributions and minimum pay demands rise.

While a weaker labour market, including a fall in vacancies, could allow room for the Bank to react through further interest rate cuts, the spectre of war in the Middle East is now clouding its rate judgements.

The last thing borrowers need is an inflation spike.

The UK’s core measure of inflation peaked above 11% in the wake of Russa’s invasion of Ukraine – giving birth to what became known as the cost of living crisis.

Inflation across the economy was driven by unprecedented spikes in natural gas costs, which pushed up not only household energy bills to record levels but those for businesses too – with the cost of goods and services reflecting those extra costs.

Borrowing costs have eased, through interest rate cuts, as the pace of price growth has come down.

The rate of inflation currently stands at 3.4% but was already forecast to rise in the second half of the year before the aerial bombardments between Israel and Iran had begun.

LSEG data shortly after the Bank of England minutes were published showed that financial markets were expecting a quarter point cut at the Bank’s next meeting in August and at least one more by the year’s end.

Commenting on the Bank’s remarks Nicholas Hyett, investment manager at Wealth Club, said: “Conflict in the Middle East risks higher energy prices potentially pushing inflation higher – though calling the course of events there is almost certainly a mugs game, and the Bank has said that under current conditions it expects inflation to remain broadly at current levels for the rest of the year.

“The risk is that all the uncertainty leaves the Bank paralysed, with rates stuck at their current level,” he concluded.