The Walt Disney Company announced that Jack Dorsey has joined its board of directors effective immediately.
Dorsey’s calendar will most likely take a hit as he juggles his duties on the board with his responsibilities as CEO of the mobile merchant services and payment company Square and his work as co-founder and current executive chairman of the poplar micro-blogging platform Twitter. Dorsey’s selection for a seat on the board was an easy choice for Disney’s leadership.
According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, Dorsey’s talent and entrepreneurial skills have helped create and nurture some of the most cutting edge and disruptive businesses in social media and commerce. It’s these talents that Iger hopes Dorsey will put to good use as board member and give Disney a new perspective on tapping the latest technologies and platforms to reach more viewers and better strengthen its relationships with its customers.
Yet Dorsey won’t be the only technology superstar on Disney’s board. Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg and Blackberry CEO John Chen are also current board members. As a tech-visionary though, Dorsey follows in the footsteps of iconic Apple co-founder Steve Jobs who joined Disney’s board after his animation company Pixar was acquired by Disney in 2008.
On joining the board, Dorsey said, “I am honored and humbled to join the Disney Board. Disney is a timeless company, one we all grow up learning from and admiring.”
Naturally, Dorsey took to twitter to make the announcement. In a tweet showing a picture an old sketch of the Disney mascot Mickey Mouse, Dorsey quotes Disney founder Walt Disney, “I only hope we don’t lose sight of one thing -- that it was all started by a mouse.”