Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey's relationship is a rare example of tech CEOs supporting one another. Take a look at the evolution of their crypto bromance.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images/Joe Raedle/Getty Images
- Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk are vocal crypto enthusiasts and have been friendly to each other online.
- Dorsey has called Musk one of his favorite tweeters, and Musk has said Dorsey "has a good" heart.
- Their friendship stands out against other tech execs' feuds, like Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook's.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Both Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk have emerged as quasi-bitcoin ambassadors, using their Twitter platforms to spout their devotion to the virtual currency.
And their mutual love for the digital asset has brought them together in a way that has become somewhat rare among big tech executives.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook famously have beef stretching back years, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had a long feud with the late Apple visionary Steve Jobs.
Musk himself has gotten into tiffs with Gates over Tesla's electric vehicles and COVID-19 vaccines.
But what Musk and Dorsey have shared online is different. And it looks like their correspondence might culminate in their first public appearance together at a July bitcoin conference.
Here's how their bromance was born and blossomed.
Francois Mori/AP
The Twitter CEO said Musk's account on the social platform was one of his favorites.
"He's constantly on Twitter, constantly talking about what [Tesla is] doing — and how he's feeling about it as well," Dorsey said at a trade show in 2016. "He's very open and using it to correct press and if people aren't focused on the right things. I think he's a really good model of how to use it well."
Musk gave Dorsey some tips on how Twitter could be improved in January 2020Win McNamee/Getty Images
Dorsey asked Musk for "direct feedback" in a video call in front of thousands of Twitter employees.
The Tesla CEO said it would be helpful to tell fake and real users apart.
"Is this a real person, or is this a bot net, or a sort of troll army, or something like that?" Musk said.
Musk came to Dorsey's defense in March 2020 amid an attempted ousting
An activist hedge fund that had amassed about a 5% stake in Twitter pushed an initiative to drive Dorsey out of his role as CEO. The hedge fund, Elliot Management, reasoned that since Dorsey led two companies, Twitter and Square, he wasn't focused enough on the former.
Musk — who also helms two companies — tweeted, "Just want say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a "good" heart, using the heart emoji.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2020
Musk said he called Dorsey right after his account was compromised in the great Twitter hack of July 2020
Britta Pedersen / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Hackers staged a coordinated attack on dozens of celebrity accounts last summer, and Musk's was one of them. He told The New York Times that he personally called Dorsey after realizing he was hacked.
"Within a few minutes of the post coming up, I immediately got texts from a bunch of people I know, then I immediately called Jack so probably within less than five minutes my account was locked," Musk told the Times.
Both Musk and Dorsey have become accidental crypto influencersDavid Becker/Getty Images
Dorsey especially has thrown his support behind the digital currency, which has seen booming popularity and growth recently, although it's grappling with a sizable dip at the moment.
The Twitter CEO has simply "#bitcoin" in his account bio and said at Miami's bitcoin bonanza earlier this month that "Bitcoin changes absolutely everything. I don't think there's anything more important in my lifetime to work on."
His payment processing company Square held 8,027 bitcoins in mid-May.
And he said in a series of tweets in early June that Square was toying with building out a hardware wallet for bitcoin.
And Musk has proven he can move markets with crypto-related tweetsHannibal Hanschke-Pool/Getty Images
Musk has said he strongly believes in crypto, and Tesla said at one point it would accept vehicle purchases in the form of bitcoin. The CEO also included the #bitcoin hashtag in his Twitter bio at one point.
But in mid-May, Musk announced the company was suspending bitcoin payments over concerns around the use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions. He said Tesla would start accepting it when at least half of bitcoin mining is powered by clean energy.
Musk has kicked off market rallies for the tweets he posts about cryptocurrencies, much to the anger of regulators and investors.
The most recent was when he tweeted "my Shiba Inu will be named Floki," a reference to the Shiba Inu that represents dogecoin. The altcoin shot up 16% just minutes after Musk published his tweet.
It appears that Musk and Dorsey will finally publicly dish on their mutual enthusiasm for cryptoJoe Skipper/Reuters; Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
Dorsey posted about an upcoming bitcoin event called "The B Word" on Twitter, and after Musk responded to it, the Twitter CEO invited him to attend for a conversation.
Musk responded, "For the Bitcurious? Very well then, let's do it," and added a wink face emoji. Dorsey said he would set it up.
The conference will kick off on July 21, though it's unclear if it will be virtual or in-person.
But either way, it'll be what appears to be the first public appearance starring the two friendly executives.
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