Data Sheet: Jack Dorsey, absentee CEO?
Jacob Carpenter Unsubscribe
September 2nd, 2022 ... 2:17 PM
Folks can be pretty forgiving of well-intentioned mistakes or wayward decisions—provided that the error isn’t due to a lack of effort.
It’s a maxim that comes to mind after seeing the results of a new Fortune poll conducted with Blind that examines Silicon Valley’s views of Jack Dorsey, the cofounder and former CEO of Twitter.
The survey, which sampled about 3,300 tech employees on Blind’s anonymous workplace platform, found that the widely regarded tech executive’s standing has suffered in recent months as Twitter grapples with a bombshell whistleblower claim by the company’s former head of security and a tortuous sale of the company to Dorsey ally Elon Musk. More than half of respondents said the whistleblower’s allegations of major security lapses and poor leadership at Twitter had hurt Dorsey’s reputation, while about 40% said the chaos surrounding Musk’s attempt to back out of the acquisition made Dorsey look bad.
While the poll isn’t perfectly representative of the industry’s true feelings—the general tenor of Blind’s forum suggests participants might be more jaded about tech than their peers—some of the survey results warrant deeper examination.
One finding, in particular, bodes poorly for perceptions of Dorsey.
As Fortune’s Kylie Robison wrote, about 200 of Twitter’s 7,500-plus employees participated in the survey (respondents must have a verified corporate email address to register for Blind). When asked in an open-ended question to describe Dorsey’s leadership style, the Twitter staffers used one word the most: “absent.”
The sentiment adds to a mounting pile of proof that Dorsey skimped on his Twitter duties at a time when the company’s business was sputtering and the platform’s influence on public discourse was turning particularly toxic.
In some ways, Dorsey invited wariness about his work ethic by simultaneously serving as CEO of two companies, Twitter and payment processor Square (now known as Block), from 2015 to 2021. Dorsey resigned from Twitter late last year to focus on Square and proselytize about Bitcoin.
Dorsey avoided too much scrutiny about his work habits in the early years of the arrangement, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility for a delegative CEO to juggle two leadership posts at once. (See: Jobs, Steve.)
But rumblings of discontent have percolated for the past few years. Dorsey’s announcement in late 2019 that he planned to move to Africa for six-plus months ticked off some investors. Activist investor Elliott Management waged war against Dorsey in early 2020, largely out of frustration over his dual roles. Months later, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2020 that current and former employees considered Dorsey “hands-off to the extreme.”
The most damning blow, however, came two weeks ago, when Twitter’s highly respected former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko blasted Dorsey as an absentee leader who failed to address the company’s mounting cybersecurity issues.
Zatko said Dorsey attended meetings “sporadically,” appeared “extremely disengaged” during the few meetings he attended, and uttered about 50 words to him for the entirety of 2021. The renowned hacker laid much of Twitter’s security lapses at Dorsey’s feet, arguing that his lack of leadership allowed employees to neglect their duties. (Twitter executives have said Zatko’s extensive claims are inaccurate and lack context, while Dorsey called the 50-word claim “completely false.”)
By most accounts, Dorsey is a genuinely decent dude. His products have helped connect the world and delivered a much-needed service to businesses large and small. He has spoken more honestly about his companies’ shortcomings than most entrepreneurs, particularly when it comes to content moderation on Twitter. The negative words most commonly used to describe him in the Blind poll intimate that he’s aloof, not filled with animus.
But such niceties are little comfort to Twitter’s users, employees, and investors. If Twitter failed to meet its full financial and humanitarian potential under Dorsey, the preponderance of the evidence suggests his inattentiveness is a chief cause.
Dorsey likely will never run two Fortune 1000 companies at the same time again (he’s still CEO of Block), which will hopefully render this issue moot in the future. When it comes time to contemplate Dorsey’s legacy, however, his effort level at Twitter won’t be easily forgiven.
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Jacob Carpenter
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