To Twitter CEO and back again: a timeline of Jack Dorsey’s rise

Jack Dorsey manages to represent the modern tech industry ethos in all of its complexities. He is visionary, enigmatic, and revered while also being a self-styled icon and a central player in one of the most bloodthirsty corporate narratives of the last decade.

Today, the interim Twitter CEO became the official permanent chief executive of the social network he helped create almost ten years ago, echoing a Silicon Valley myth cemented by the late Steve Jobs. And in another tip of the hat to industry lore, Dorsey will try to do what only the most influential leaders in tech — like Jobs, as well as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — have accomplished: successfully run two companies at the same time. Dorsey will simultaneously run Twitter and his mobile payments company Square, now a multi-billion dollar startup preparing for its initial public offering. Now Dorsey's task is living up to the legend he’s so carefully crafted for himself.

To understand his ascent, we’ve mapped out the cornerstone events leading up to Dorsey’s big comeback moment.