11. 05. 2023 | Kristýna Bezděková

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Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who once strongly supported Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform, now has harsh words for the company’s new boss.

A year ago, Dorsey described the billionaire’s proposed takeover as “the only solution” for Twitter and wrote that he believed in its mission. But when a user of the fledgling social network Bluesky recently asked Dorsey whether Musk had emerged as the right person to lead Twitter, Dorsey was blunt.

“No. I don’t even think he acted right after realizing his timing was wrong,” Dorsey wrote on Bluesky. “I don’t even think the board should have pushed the sale through. It all went wrong.”

Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter in April 2022 for $44 billion, then changed his mind, eventually ended up in court and completed the acquisition in October. Since the purchase, Tesla’s CEO has cut Twitter’s staff by roughly three-quarters and orchestrated a series of dizzying changes, including reinstating accounts that were banned for breaking rules and then re-banning some when they broke the rules again; requiring users to pay for “verified” status; and leaning toward a subscription model. Musk has also declared that the company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and has promised to step down as Twitter’s CEO as soon as a replacement is found.

Twitter is implementing an updated “zero tolerance” policy for violent speech. Waffle maker Mondelez, for example, is pulling ads from Twitter, citing a spike in hate speech. Dorsey wrote that “we have done everything we can to avert” Twitter’s failure.

“If Elon or anyone else wanted to buy the company, all they would have to do is quote a price that the board believes would be better than what the company could do on its own,” he wrote. “Was I being optimistic? Yes. Did I have the final say? No.” Dorsey also said Musk should have backed out of the acquisition deal and paid a $1 billion fine. But many experts at the time argued that pulling out of the deal would have cost Musk far more than the $1 billion fine that was written into the agreement. Dorsey started promoting Bluesky, a decentralized social app, in 2019 when he was still CEO of Twitter. The new social app is currently in non-public beta.

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Kristýna Bezděková

Kristýna is a student of marketing and communication in an undergraduate program. She writes and translates content into the Czech language