Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk have gone from friendly to rivalry online.
Dorsey recently said Musk should have “walked away” from buying Twitter.
Here's a timeline of how their friendship, which had been friendly for years, fell apart.
Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk are both successful tech entrepreneurs in their own right.
Over the years, billionaires have praised and sometimes defended each other online.
But their friendship appears to have faded since Musk served Dorsey with a subpoena in 2022 to turn over documents related to spam accounts as part of his defense against Twitter.
Dorsey's recent comments about Musk seem to suggest their friendship could be on the rocks. In a series of posts on Twitter rival platform Blue Sky, Dorsey said Musk was “the only alternative” to Twitter being taken over by “Wall Street activists,” even if he wouldn't be the “best” leader for the company.
Let's take a look at how their relationship has evolved over the years.
Dorsey first publicly praised Musk in 2016.
François Mori/AP
The Twitter CEO said Musk's account on the social platform is one of his favorites.
“He's always on Twitter. [Tesla is] “He's very open and he uses it to correct coverages and when people aren't focused on the right things. I think he's a really good model for using that well,” Dorsey said at the 2016 show.
Musk gave Dorsey some tips on how to improve Twitter in January 2020.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Dorsey, speaking to thousands of Twitter employees on a video call, asked Musk for “direct feedback.”
The Tesla CEO said it would be useful to distinguish fake users from real ones.
“Is this a real person or is this a botnet or some kind of troll army or something like that?” Musk said.
Musk defended Dorsey during an attempt to fire him in March 2020.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Activist hedge funds that owned about 5% of Twitter's shares led the campaign to oust Dorsey as CEO. Elliott Management argued that Dorsey was leading two companies, Twitter and Square, and wasn't focused enough on the former.
Musk, who also heads two companies, tweeted, using a heart emoji, “I want to say I support Jack as CEO of Twitter. He's a good guy.”
Musk said he called Dorsey shortly after his account was compromised in a major Twitter hack in July 2020.
Britta Pedersen/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Hackers launched a coordinated attack on dozens of high-profile accounts last summer, including Musk's, and he told The New York Times that he personally called Dorsey after he realized he'd been hacked.
“Within minutes of it being posted, I got immediate messages from a bunch of people I know, and I immediately called Jack, and my account was locked probably within five minutes,” Musk told The New York Times.
Musk and Dorsey shared their mutual enthusiasm for cryptocurrency at the 2021 Bitcoin Conference.
Joe Skipper/Reuters, Philip Wojciar/Reuters
Dorsey posted about a Bitcoin event called “The B Word” on Twitter in the summer of 2021, and after Musk responded to it, the Twitter CEO invited him back for a conversation.
“For Bitcurious? Sure, let's do it,” Musk replied, adding a winking face emoji. Dorsey said he'd be up and running.
The virtual chat in July 2021 marked the two executives' first public appearance together, and you can watch the recording here.
Dorsey spoke out in support of Musk when he joined Twitter's board of directors in March 2022.
Picture Alliance/Getty Images
In March 2022, Musk acquired 9.2% of social media giant Twitter, becoming the company's largest shareholder.
Musk will also join Twitter's board of directors, and the company's current CEO tweeted his approval of the news early Tuesday morning. He called Musk a “devotee.”
Dorsey followed up with a similar tweet shortly thereafter.
“I'm incredibly excited to have Elon join the Twitter board!,” Dorsey said. “He cares deeply about our world and Twitter's role. Parag and Elon both bring their leadership skills to the table and will be a great team.”
Musk subpoenaed Dorsey in August 2022.
Associated Press
Musk was seeking any documents or communications going back to 2019 that may have discussed “the impact or effect of fake or spam accounts on Twitter's business or operations.”
Twitter sued Musk in July 2022 after the Tesla CEO tried to back out of the company's $44 billion acquisition. Musk countersued the company, accusing it of misleading his team about how many bots actually existed on the platform.
Dorsey said in April 2023 that Musk should not have bought Twitter.
AP/Getty Images
Dorsey was asked by a Blue Sky user whether Musk was the “best fit” person to take over at Twitter, to which the co-founder replied that he wasn't.
“No, nor do I believe he acted quickly once he realized the timing was wrong,” Dorsey wrote of Musk. “I also don't believe the board should have forced a sale. It all just didn't work out.”
Dorsey added: “If Elon or anyone else wanted to buy the company, all they had to do was offer a price that the board felt was better than the company could do on its own. This applies to every public company. Was I optimistic? Yes. Did I have the final say? No. I think he should have walked away and paid the $1 billion.”
