Neusroom 100: Jack Dorsey Fights COVID-19 With $1 Billion Pledge
With his wild beard and tattooed looks, Jack Dorsey might not fit the stereotypical image of a successful CEO, but that he is.
In 2006, he co-founded social media company, Twitter with Ev Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass and served as CEO until 2008. Dorsey returned in 2015 to serve as the CEO of Twitter and payments company, Square.
Dorsey’s globally famous company, Twitter has grown since its early beginnings in 2006. It has garnered over 330 million users around the world and currently rakes in more than 3.5 billion dollars in annual revenue.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Jack Dorsey enforced a work from home policy for Twitter employees, and later announced that they could continue working from home even after the pandemic ends if they so choose. This courtesy was also extended to Square employees to ensure that they could stay safe at home while observing physical distancing protocols.
In April, 2020, Dorsey announced that he would be giving away $1 billion to COVID-19 relief and other causes via his Twitter handle. He said:
“I’m moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI.”
The $1 billion pledge is gradually being deployed to different organisations that support important initiatives such as providing food for vulnerable communities that have been especially affected by the pandemic, providing treatment for HIV/AIDs patients who may lack access to treatment in these times, supporting mental health initiatives, providing prisons with personal protective equipment, supporting less privileged students with laptops and internet connections, and several other causes.
Dorsey’s pledge is reportedly the largest amount so far donated by an individual to fight the global pandemic.
For his philanthropic acts, Jack Dorsey has been honoured on Neusroom’s list of 100 People, Organisations, Countries, and Things. You can see the full list here.
