- As company got bigger founders were pushed out of CEO position
- Mircoblog site started as side project is close to big debut on public market
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As Twitter builds up to its stock exchange debut details of a rift between the founders has been revealed.
It was founded by four friends in 2006 but as the microblogging site gets ready for the public market, it has emerged that three of the site's pioneers no longer work at Twitter and two barely speak to each other.
While Jack Dorsey is the only one remaining at Twitter, he is said to rarely speak to fellow co-founder Evan Williams, who replaced him as chief executive officer early on.
And, although those two are expected to become billionaires by the IPO, co-founder Biz Stone was not listed in company documents.
Noah Glass, who worked for Twitter's predecessor and says he deserves more credit for the site's success, was also not mentioned. It suggests both no longer hold significant shares in the company.
Founding fathers: From left, Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone came up with Twitter, along with Noah Glass
Ambitions: Twitter is getting ready for its public market debut
Despite the rocky road to Twitter's much-anticipated foray into the public market its executives are said to be considering more than doubling the size of the planned share sale to $2 billion.
The share sale, which could come as early as November, will mark a milestone for a company that started as a side project.
Founders Williams, Dorsey, Stone Noah Glass were working at podcast company Odeo when they started to look for a new way to swap text messages.
At the start Twitter ran smoothly side by side with Odeo and the company's employees enjoyed sailing trips around San Francisco bay in an old boat bought on eBay as they worked on their new project, according to the Wall Street Journal.
By 2007 Twitter had its first public boost at the Southwest music festival in Texas, as video screens scattered around the site asked festival goers to tell them what they were doing in 140 characters.
In a week, the microblogging site's usage tripled, helping it become a stand-alone company.
Mr Glass worked with the Twitter co-founders at the site's predecessor company Odeo. He claims to have come up with the name 'Twitter', and to have generated the idea that became the social networking site.
But he never worked for Twitter amid a falling-out with the co-founders, and has an account on the site that states: 'I started this'.
Just a few years after starting up, another rift appeared as Mr Dorsey was replaced by Mr Williams as the chief executive officer. He later described the demotion as 'like being punched in the stomach' and left Twitter.
But Mr Williams didn't keep the position for long either, as the company replaced him with Dick Costolo, who had been brought in to boost revenue.
The leadership change kept Twitter 'shifting and changing direction,' Thomas Arend, a former product manager told the Wall Street Journal.
Growth by numbers: The company has only been in existence for seven years but has clearly made a dent
'Chaos can be a part of their business model but it can also be distracting,' he said.
A few months after being replaced, Mr Williams quit Twitter to start a new company with Mr Stone and Jason Goldman, who is sometimes referred to as a shadow founder.
Idea: Noah Glass was part of the team that came up with Twitter
When he left Mr Dorsey, who had been pushed out in 2008, returned to Twitter the same month and is its current chairman, according to the New York Times.
They weren't the first to leave. Noah Glass quit within a year of Twitter launching and had previously said he hadn't been given enough credit for the company's success.
While the internal politics may have been tumultuous, on the outside Twitter was gaining ground and credibility as a way to quickly spread information.
It was used in 2009 to post the first pictures of the US Airways plane that successfully crash landed on the Hudson in New York and was used as a way for protesters in Iran to organize themselves after the disputed election.
The founders and Twitter declined to comment to the press, but It is not unusual for a company that goes public to no longer have a founder as CEO when it goes public.
The microblogging site, which filed its IPO documents publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, now has an estimated value of $10 billion and is used to send 500 million tweets a day.
Keen to differentiate between Facebook, Twitter has listed itself as a 'platform for public expression and conversation in real time'.
It has also boasted that it has a better handle on the mobile ad market, according to the New York Post.
Backing: Despite leaving Twitter within a year of it starting, Noah Glass still backs the site
And despite the leadership changes and talks of a rift between the founders, they appear happy with Twitter's success.
Mr Williams returned to the company's headquarters to talk to staff earlier this week, with Mr Dorsey and Mr Stone, who tweeted: 'Was at Twitter HQ today for a fun meeting. Go team!'
And, despite a long period away from Twitter, Mr Glass posted a tweet last month stating: 'I wish the Twitter team the best of luck and trust that they will be successful in continuing to develop this important communication tool.'
Gator, Florida, United States, 6 hours ago
There is more than enough money to go around. So straighten it out while the rest of us idiots try to figure out how to pay our Mortgage and Electric bill.