Jack “Of All Trades” Dorsey Is No Longer on the Bluesky Board

Jack Dorsey and Bluesky have parted ways. This isn’t the first time Dorsey has left an endeavor early on, and it likely won’t be the last. 

One semester shy of graduating from New York University in 1999, Jack left, inspired to create something new. His original Twitter prototype was coding on Blackberry, which allowed him to send life updates to his friends. When they weren’t impressed, he returned to Missouri to become a licensed massage therapist while continuing to work on the idea for his new project. In 2005, he took a job at a now-defunct podcasting company, Odeo, where he met Evan Williams, Noah Glass, and Biz Stone, his soon-to-be Twttr co-founders (though, at the time, they named the company Obvious). 

His first tweet went live on March 21, 2006, under the handle @Jack, becoming the first post on Twitter after several test messages. He still has the same handle today. 

Jack was the original CEO of Twitter, but in 2008, after a series of complaints, he stepped away from the C-suite. In 2009, during his time away, Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey founded Square, a credit card reader that would allow anyone to complete transactions right from their phone. This was Jack’s way of leveling the playing field for mom-and-pop shops and vendors needing mobile sales access. 

In 2011, Dorsey returned to Twitter, but as a board member instead of in an executive role. Early in his return, Jack convinced Twitter to buy Vine. He saw a future in the then three-man company, an Instagram with videos. It was Dorsey’s biggest regret when Twitter killed off Vine in 2016. Since TikTok launched that same year and internationally in 2017, there is no question Dorsey felt the sting of missing out on the next big thing in social media. Even so, Jack once again became CEO of Twitter in 2015, leaving that job a second time in 2021.

If one thing could be said about Jack Dorsey…

Considering everything he’s been a part of, if one thing could be said, it’s that he has the Midas touch regarding what’s next on social media. So when Dorsey began developing Bluesky while still working for Twitter, there was much anticipation about what the app would offer. For Jack, it was the realization of a lifelong dream, the idea that “…by making information freer…the world [would be] fairer, kinder, and nicer.”

After Dorsey left Twitter again in 2021, he jumped into the development of Bluesky full-throttle. As a decentralized social media platform, Bluesky should have been everything he’d hoped for: A place where people could interact openly, a stream of free information for all, and finally, the realization of his dream of a fairer, kinder, and nicer world. 

Though there is no exact answer as to why Jack Dorsey shuttered his own Bluesky account in September 2023 or why Dorsey and Bluesky parted ways, his posts on X clearly indicated that he felt disillusioned as moderation tools moved into place on Bluesky, causing his ideal of truly free speech to come crashing down. 

After news of his departure hit on May 4th, Dorsey spent time on X unfollowing more than 2,000 accounts, X-ing (is it X-ing?), and raising eyebrows. At this point, Jack follows three accounts on X: Elon Musk, Edward Snowden, and Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange.

When asked if he was still on the Bluesky board, he responded in a complete sentence: “no”

In a now pinned post… 

Jack dug deeper into the idea that the lack of truly free speech may have been his impetus for leaving Bluesky, though, at this point, that’s mere speculation. He wrote,

Bluesky responded on its app on Sunday, May 5th, saying, “We sincerely thank Jack for his help funding and initiating the bluesky project. Today, Bluesky is thriving as an open source social network running on atproto, the decentralized protocol we have built.

“With Jack’s departure, we are searching for a new board member for the Bluesky public benefit company who shares our commitment to building a social network that puts people in control of their experience. More to come!” 

In 2023, Dorsey returned as the CEO of Block (formerly Square) to champion the next iteration of what that technology can become. There is no news yet on whether this position is temporary as the company finds a new CEO or is a more permanent seat, but knowing what we know about Jack Dorsey, this is likely only one more stop on the massive timeline of his career.

So what is next for Dorsey?

Probably more X-ing. Maybe an Elon/Jack reunion tour? Jack only ever drives a BMW (when he drives), so Tesla influencer is off the table (it’s true — we looked it up). Finally admitting that he and Peter Dinklage are actually the same person? Considering he dropped out of NYU and went on to found Twitter, Square, and Bluesky, as well as help launch Vine (and who knows what else), we’re pretty sure he’ll land on his feet. Whatever he decides to do, we wish him well in his next venture. 

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