An upcoming book on the history of Twitter by Nick Bilton has uncovered a number of secrets surrounding the microblogging platform. Among them is the fact that Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Al Gore all tried to purchase Twitter during the company’s rise to fame.
An excerpt published in the New York Times Magazine notes all parties listed above approached former CEO Ev Williams regarding a possible deal but it was Facebook’s CEO that went a step further and tried to hire Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey after he left the company.
Speaking of Dorsey, he was allegedly responsible for creating a bit of a power struggle within the company and pushing Noah Glass out. Glass was allegedly responsible for making critical early contributions to Twitter.
Furthermore, many didn’t agree with Dorsey’s management style which included taking classes at a local fashion school. Williams at one point told Dorsey he could either be a dressmaker or the CEO of Twitter, but not both. Less than a year later, Williams replaced Dorsey as CEO. Doesey later went on to found Square, a platform that accepts debit and credit card payments via mobile devices.
With Twitter’s upcoming IPO, Dorsey will likely receive around half a billion dollars. Glass, on the other hand, has pretty much been written out entirely. Interestingly enough, one former Twitter employee went on record to say the greatest product Jack Dorsey ever made was Jack Dorsey.
