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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: 7 things you didn't know about the tech mogul

Dorsey told Rolling Stone that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg once served him a goat Zuckerberg had killed himself.

Queenie Wong Former Senior Writer
Queenie Wong was a senior writer for CNET News, focusing on social media companies including Facebook's parent company Meta, Twitter and TikTok. Before joining CNET, she worked for The Mercury News in San Jose and the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. A native of Southern California, she took her first journalism class in middle school.
Expertise I've been writing about social media since 2015 but have previously covered politics, crime and education. I also have a degree in studio art. Credentials
  • 2022 Eddie award for consumer analysis
Queenie Wong
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Jack Dorsey

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Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey certainly has a lot to talk about these days.

From the controversial meditation retreat he took in Myanmar to whether he'd ban President Donald Trump if Trump called for murder, Dorsey is no stranger to sitting in the hot seat. 

Twitter, which has struggled to attract new users, is also grappling with a variety of challenges, including hate speech, harassment and election meddling by Russian trolls. 

In a Q&A published by Rolling Stone on Wednesday, Dorsey, who wears a nose ring, talks about hate speech, tech addiction and his most memorable moment with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, among other topics. 

Here are some things you probably didn't know about the 42-year-old tech mogul.

His most memorable encounter with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg involves a dead goat

Zuckerberg comes up with a personal challenge for himself every year, and in 2011 he vowed that the only animals he'd eat were ones he killed himself. That year, Dorsey said, Zuckerberg served him a goat that he'd stunned with a laser or stun gun and then killed with a knife. The pair then waited 30 minutes as the goat cooked in the oven. "We go in the dining room. He puts the goat down. It was cold. That was memorable. I don't know if it went back in the oven. I just ate my salad," Dorsey told Rolling Stone. 

He can get addicted to Twitter like the rest of us

During live events such as an election or a basketball game, Dorsey said, he compulsively checks Twitter like everyone else. The tech mogul said the company never intended to make the site addictive and has looked at removing the "like" counts from tweets. Instead of spending hours on the platform, Dorsey said, he wants users to walk away feeling like they learned something new. "Right now I just feel overwhelmed, because I don't think I'm learning anything new, ultimately."

He doesn't think there are any "self-professed Nazis" on Twitter

Twitter has come under fire in the past for not doing enough to combat hate speech on the platform. Even actor Seth Rogan has criticized Dorsey and Twitter for verifying white supremacists on the site. In the interview with Rolling Stone, Dorsey said he doesn't think there are any "self-professed Nazis" on Twitter but acknowledged more work needs to be done to combat hate speech. Part of the problem, he noted, is that Twitter relies on users to report hate speech. "They see things, but it's easier to tweet out 'get rid of the Nazis' than to report it," he said. "We need to be more proactive, but a lot of it has to do with the friction of everything relying on it being reported in the first place." 

He thinks Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is ridiculous, but Dorsey wants to help

Musk is known for ideas that sound like they come from a science fiction novel. Dorsey, who described himself as a "toolmaker," said he wants to lend a helping hand. "He is ridiculous. You have to be. You have to be to think that big," Dorsey said. "I love him. I love what he's trying to do, and I want to help in whatever way."

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He no longer has political ambitions

At one point, Dorsey talked about wanting to be mayor of New York, but the tech mogul said it's no longer on his dream list. Though he thinks the political job is impactful, he noted that it would take years before you'd see the effect of a new policy. "I'm just now more and more convinced that building and creating can influence faster than what can happen in our current legislative system," he said. "Also, I would probably be terrible at it." 

He wants to eventually give away all his money

When asked about his philanthropic goals, Dorsey pointed to two causes he cares about. One is climate change, and the other is economic disparity. "I don't think it's fair what I have access to," he said.

He never wanted to be a CEO or entrepreneur

Dorsey, who grew up listening to punk rock music and once dyed his hair blue, describes himself as a "punk" during the Rolling Stone Q&A. He also says that he never had ambitions as a kid to become an entrepreneur, public figure or CEO. "The character I loved most in The Wizard of Oz was the wizard," he said. "'Cause he was behind the curtain." 

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