Jack Dorsey appointed head, chairperson at Block

SAN FRANCISCO: Jack Dorsey has now been appointed head and chairperson of his tech company Block (earlier Square) he co-founded in 2009.

Dorsey’s title changed from “chief executive officer, president and chairperson” to “Block head and chairperson,” effective immediately.

“There will be no changes in Dorsey’s roles and responsibilities, and he will continue to serve as principal executive officer of the company,” Block said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The current CEO of Square is leaving the company so Dorsey will handle the additional responsibilities at the company.

The change happened at Dorsey’s request, according to the filing. In December 2021, Dorsey’s financial services company Square announced to change its name to Block. In March this year, short-seller Hindenburg Research claimed that Block facilitates fraud against consumers and the government, avoids regulation, dresses up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary technology, and misleads investors with inflated metrics.

“We also believe Jack Dorsey has built an empire - and amassed a $5 billion personal fortune -professing to care deeply about the demographics he is taking advantage of,” the report claimed.

Block’s $29 billion deal to acquire a ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) service Afterpay closed in January 2022.

The Twitter co-founder has also launched micro-blogging platform Bluesky that recently raised $8 million to support its mission and growth.

Last year, Bluesky received $13 million in funding with Dorsey on its board.