Jack Dorsey is of the most famous tech entreprenuers in the Valley, he will now be taking his talents to one of the most storied companies in American history.
Dorsey has been appointed to the board of directors at the The Walt Disney Company, it was announced on Monday. Dorsey will be an independent director, and will start immediately, replacing outgoing board member Judith L. Estrin, who has been serving for 15 years, the limit that Disney has set for its board members.
Dorsey also announced the news on Monday, in a tweet that seemed to poke a little fun at his new company:
“I only hope we don’t lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.”—Walt Disney pic.twitter.com/MgY9byVIkz
— Jack Dorsey (@jack) December 23, 2013
So what does Dorsey bring to the hallowed halls of Disney? Basically, he knows how to use technology to reach multitudes of new people, Robert Iger, Disney’s chairman and CEO said in a statement.
“Jack Dorsey is a talented entrepreneur who has helped create groundbreaking new businesses in the social media and commerce spaces,” said Iger.
“The perspective he brings to Disney and its Board is extremely valuable, given our strategic priorities, which include utilizing the latest technologies and platforms to reach more people and to enhance the relationship we have with our customers.”
Dorsey will hardly be the first Silicon Valley tech pioneer to join the Disney board. Steve Jobs joined back in 2006, back when Disney bought Pixar for over $7 billion.
Current members include Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (of “Lean In” fame) and John S. Chen, former CEO at Sybase and current interim CEO at BlackBerry.
The Dorsey legacy
Jack Dorsey is one of those people who, when I hear his story, makes me say, “oh, I’ve wasted my life!”
As the co-founder of Twitter, and the founder and CEO of Square, Jack Dorsey founded two of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley before he was 35. When Twitter went public earlier this year, Dorsey earned $1.06 billion from the 4.9% of the company, or 23.4 millon shares, he owned. And Square could see its own IPO as soon as next year.
But beyond just being successful, Dorsey has come to represent a lot more than that. He has also emerged as a great innovator and leader in the tech world.
Dorsey is someone who has tried to model himself after Steve Jobs, calling Jobs “an artist” and someone who “had no constraint of what he wanted to see in the world, and he had this amazing ability to convince people it should exist.”
He has even expressed interest in possibly running for Mayor of New York City one day.
It says a lot that when 60 Minutes interviewed him earlier this year, they labeled the segment “The Innovator.”
When VatorNews founder and CEO Bambi Francisco interviewed Dorsey back in 2008, he discussed how constraints helped him.
“I’m a big believer in creativity through constraint,” he said. “When you limit the canvas size you get more creative. A lot of creativity comes through hard times and constrained times. It makes you strive to be your best.”
(Image source: http://techonomy.com)
