Jack Dorsey went from being 'really happy' about Elon Musk joining Twitter's board to saying he shouldn't have bought it. Here's how their bromance has evolved.
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- Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk went from being friendly to each other online to competitors.
- Most recently, Dorsey said Musk should have "walked away" from his Twitter takeover.
- Here's a timeline of how their bromance faltered after being cordial for years.
Both Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk have enjoyed success as tech entrepreneurs in their own respective lanes.
Over the years the billionaires have exchanged praise for one another online, even coming to each of their defense at times.
Their bromance appears to have dwindled though after Musk subpoenaed Dorsey in 2022 for material relating to spam accounts as part of his defense against Twitter.
Dorsey's most recent comments on Musk seem to show their friendship could be rocky. In a series of posts on Twitter rival platform Bluesky, Dorsey said Musk was the "only alternative" to Twitter being taken over by "Wall Street activists" even if he didn't turn out as the "best possible" leader for the company.
Here's how their relationship has evolved over the years.
Francois Mori/AP
The Twitter CEO said Musk's account on the social platform was one of his favorites.
"He's constantly on Twitter, constantly talking about what [Tesla is] doing — and how he's feeling about it as well," Dorsey said at a trade show in 2016. "He's very open and using it to correct press and if people aren't focused on the right things. I think he's a really good model of how to use it well."
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Dorsey asked Musk for "direct feedback" in a video call in front of thousands of Twitter employees.
The Tesla CEO said it would be helpful to tell fake and real users apart.
"Is this a real person, or is this a bot net, or a sort of troll army, or something like that?" Musk said.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
An activist hedge fund that had amassed about a 5% stake in Twitter pushed an initiative to drive Dorsey out of his role as CEO. The hedge fund, Elliot Management, reasoned that since Dorsey led two companies, Twitter and Square, he wasn't focused enough on the former.
Musk — who also helms two companies — tweeted, "Just want say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a good" heart, using the heart emoji.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2020
Britta Pedersen / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Hackers staged a coordinated attack on dozens of celebrity accounts last summer, and Musk's was one of them. He told The New York Times that he personally called Dorsey after realizing he was hacked.
"Within a few minutes of the post coming up, I immediately got texts from a bunch of people I know, then I immediately called Jack so probably within less than five minutes my account was locked," Musk told the Times.
Joe Skipper/Reuters; Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
Dorsey posted about a bitcoin event called "The B Word" on Twitter in the summer 2021, and after Musk responded to it, the Twitter CEO invited him to attend for a conversation.
Musk responded, "For the Bitcurious? Very well then, let's do it," and added a wink face emoji. Dorsey said he would set it up.
The virtual chat in July 2021 was the first public appearance starring the two friendly executives. You can watch a recording of it here.
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In March 2022, Musk became Twitter's largest shareholder after buying up a 9.2% stake in the social media giant.
Musk also became a Twitter board member, and the company's current CEO tweeted his support early Tuesday for the news, calling Musk a "passionate believer."
Dorsey shortly after tweeted something similar.
"I'm really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board!" Dorsey said. "He cares deeply about our world and Twitter's role in it. Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team."
—jack⚡️ (@jack) April 5, 2022
Associated Press
Musk was after any documents or communications as far back as 2019 that might mention "the impact or effect of false or spam accounts on Twitter's business and operations."
Twitter sued Musk in July 2022 after the Tesla CEO attempted to back out of his $44 billion takeover. Musk countersued the company, accusing it of misleading his team over how many bots are actually on the platform.
AP/Getty Images
Dorsey was asked by Bluesky users if Musk was the "best possible" person to take over Twitter and the co-founder said he wasn't.
"No. Nor do I think he acted right after realizing his timing was bad," Dorsey wrote of Musk. "Nor do I think the board should have forced the sale. It all went south."
Dorsey added: "If Elon or anyone wanted to buy the company, all they had to do was name a price that the board felt was better than what the company could do independently. This is true for every public company. Was I optimistic? Yes. Did I have final say? No. I think he should have walked away and paid the $1 billion."
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