On Bluesky, Jack Dorsey criticizes Elon Musk's leadership of Twitter, saying “it all went south” and Musk should have paid the $1B breakup fee to ditch the deal

The former CEO issued his strongest criticism yet of Musk's takeover of the social media site

Washington Post 2023-04-30

Context & Ripple Effects

Dorsey had been linked to people encouraging Musk to bid for Twitter before the acquisition, making his public reversal a meaningful break from the deal’s early coalition. He also left Twitter’s board as the transaction was progressing, in a departure from the company’s board that reduced his formal role in its direction.

The criticism was posted on Bluesky, but subsequent coverage complicates any simple platform allegiance: Dorsey later left Bluesky while arguing it was repeating Twitter’s mistakes. The arc is less an endorsement of one network than a dispute over how major social platforms are owned and governed.

First-order effects

Dorsey’s comments withdraw a prominent former insider’s public validation of Musk’s ownership, adding reputational pressure without changing Twitter’s control or the completed deal.
Bluesky becomes the venue for a visible critique of Twitter’s leadership, reinforcing its role as a public alternative in the conversation around Twitter’s direction.

Second-order effects

Twitter’s rivals gain a credible founder-level contrast to cite when competing for users and builders dissatisfied with the post-acquisition platform, though the coverage provides no evidence of immediate user migration.
The episode makes founder and governance credibility more salient for social platforms: public association from past leaders can become an asset or liability even after they no longer run the company.

Third-order effects

If departures and public repudiations by platform founders become more common, social-network competition may turn increasingly on governance models and trust in ownership—not only product features and network effects.
Dorsey’s later criticism of Bluesky suggests the deeper structural pressure is unresolved: alternative networks can face the same centralization and governance trade-offs they were meant to counter.

The trend: This is one data point in the broader fragmentation of social networking, where ownership, moderation, and governance are becoming competitive differentiators alongside audience scale.

Discussion

Vox Shirin Ghaffary on x
What is Bluesky, and why is everyone on Twitter talking about it?
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
watching Jack Dorsey simultaneously defend his previous stance on selling Twitter to Elon Musk while also criticizing the decision to sell Twitter to Elon Musk on Bluesky 🍿 https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Surprised to see @jack write that @elonmusk should have just paid Twitter $1 billion to get out of their deal. Surprised because that wasn't really an option Musk had. That was a breakup fee that only applies if musk couldn't close the deal (e.g. regulatory block, etc).
@mcwm Mike Murphy on x
the mental gymnastics here... I am too tired https://twitter.com/...
@faizsays Faiz Siddiqui on x
Jack Dorsey says Elon Musk shouldn't have bought Twitter A year ago, @jack called Musk “the singular solution I trust” to steer the company forward. “I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.” Now: “It all went south.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... w/ @WillO…
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
This argument is that in April 2022 Elon was the best solution for taking the company private as it could not succeed publicly. And then, almost immediately Elon was revealed to not be the best solution and should've been allowed to walk. And then everything would've been fine. h…
@banquodyar @banquodyar on x
According to Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk was a better choice for owner of twitter than a hedge fund because Elon Musk shares his hair-brained idea that humans should live on Mars. Tech billionaires was a bad idea.
@snurb_dot_info Axel Bruns on x
🧐 It's almost as if Jack Dorsey isn't some kind of social media genius, but just a random tech-bro who simply got lucky that one time but still doesn't have a clue why... <feigns shock> https://twitter.com/...
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
Man if this couple couldn't make it what hope is there for the rest of us https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
We wrote about jack's skeets https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@techinsider @techinsider on x
Jack Dorsey once called Elon Musk the ‘singular solution’ for taking Twitter private. Now, the app's co-founder says Musk never should have bought it: ‘I think he should have walked away’ https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@riptari Natasha on x
Captain Hindsight walks among us https://twitter.com/...
@sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x
“It all went south,” Jack Dorsey says about Elon Musk's Twitter purchase, on Bluesky https://twitter.com/...
@benjamingoggin Ben Goggin on x
Jack Dorsey is an open book tonight on Bluesky... talking about Elon, his last months at Twitter, and fighting with other users Im sort of obsessed https://twitter.com/...
@Sarahp@mastodon.social Sarah Perez on mastodon
Pretty sure I'm a better fit for Mastodon than Bluesky but those kids sure are having fun
@brianhough@mastodon.social Brian Hough on mastodon
Bluesky users are trying to purposely break the site with extra long “hell threads,” If your wondering what the vibe is like over there rn
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social Chris Trottier on mastodon
Jack Dorsey explaining exactly why no single company should own a social media platform.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
I can't wait to see how Blue Sky benefits from the leadership and product skills Jack Dorsey showed in his near-decade long management of Twitter.
@thetimes @thetimes on x
Are you scared @elonmusk? https://www.thetimes.co.uk/...
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
He said that “Hell no” with his full chest. https://twitter.com/...
@davetroy Dave Troy on x
1/Regarding Jack, Elon, and Bluesky, it appears that Musk has managed to strain his formerly tight relationship with Dorsey. But that has implications that are non-obvious; here's a quick rundown. First, look at how things have shifted in the last year. https://twitter.com/...
@cultexpert Steven Hassan, PhD on x
If true, this is a big thing. https://twitter.com/...
@jayrosen_nyu Jay Rosen on x
In my view @jack ought to spend years reflecting on how he made this error and what led up to it. When you get something that big that wrong ("the singular solution I trust...") you have to go back a long way. Then tell us what you found. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https…
@davetroy Dave Troy on x
12/And I will remind folks that Dorsey did not transact his shares in Twitter and did not receive any cash benefit from the transaction. He was a true believer in Elon's vision. He may regret that now, but he still holds the shares unless he sold them. https://www.cnn.com/...
@shaft Leslie Miley on x
What I hate about this take is that @jack is like, it went south, let's move forward and build something else. Which is what so many people with privilege do after facilitating the destruction of something that was invaluable to those with less privilege. https://twitter.com/...
@evasteslasplaid Eva McMillan on x
Highly and respectfully disagree with Jack Dorsey❗️ Elon @elonmusk turned Twitter around just in few months. The platform is more trusted, more fun and entertaining than any other sites. It has more followers and subscribers than ever. One more quarter and Twitter starts bringing…
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
Jack is spending his time and money to recreate a version of Twitter not subject to whims of one company. This started as a way to get away from one company being bullied by governments to shape the public conversation. Turns out it also ensures the company can't become a bully. …
@carlquintanilla Carl Quintanilla on x
“I wish the [Twitter] board would not have forced the sale,” Dorsey said, “I think [Elon] should have walked away ..” Responding to a post in which a user said “It's pretty sad how it all went down,” Dorsey replied simply: “Yes.” ⁦@washingtonpost⁩ https://www.washingtonpost.com/ …
@tomw@mastodon.social Tom Walker on mastodon
Mastodon is an incredibly rare opportunity for open-source, non-profit, advertising-free, decentralised software to be a real contender in a category - and, if it continues to grow, even to pull many other social networks into being part of (or interoperable with) the fediverse. …
@Wikisteff@mastodon.social Steffen Christensen on mastodon
Mike @mmasnick has a great article about the three big Twitter replacements out now: Mastodon, BlueSky, and nostr. — I really appreciate his analysis here. — I keep thinking about ownership. …
@mmasnick@mastodon.social Mike Masnick on mastodon
It's been six months since Elon took over Twitter. I have some thoughts on the “Twitter diaspora” and the current decentralized alternatives: https://www.techdirt.com/...
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social Chris Trottier on mastodon
When you block people on Bluesky, your block list is public. — Which means that if someone is blocked, everyone will know. — This approach to blocking may prove controversial.
@daveleeFT@mastodon.social Dave Lee on mastodon
Celebrations over at Bluesky as they reach 50k users. Mastodon at 11 million+ yet still written off as the post-Twitter platform. What am I missing?
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
It's interesting how product decisions shape the user base of a product. Mastodon is a pain in the ass to use so it attracts people who think dealing with inconvenience is a virtue. Sort of like Linux on the desktop. This is in stark contrast to Bluesky.
@ohnoshetwitnt @ohnoshetwitnt on x
Imagine how badly you fucked up a website that people are leaving that website for a nearly identical website created by the guy who created the first website that you fucked up.
@airlineflyer Jason Rabinowitz on x
The downfall of Twitter continues, as major public agencies and private corporations abandon their customer service operations here. Twitter is (was?) the ***best*** place for direct customer service from many companies. It sucks to see it needlessly destroyed by @elonmusk. https…
@tprstly Theo on x
Every platform post-twitter will fail because nobody really cares anymore https://twitter.com/...
@mahemoff @mahemoff on x
And that cultural norm against algorithms is why Mastodon can't retain most users https://www.techdirt.com/...

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