Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reportedly once tried to give Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai a seat on microblogging website's board. According to a report in Business Insider, quoting Wall Street Journal, "In 2016, Dorsey tried to give a seat on Twitter's board to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girls' education activist and Nobel Prize laureate." The idea, however, was rejected. It met with opposition internally on the ground that Yousafzai lacked any business experience.
As per the report, Dorsey is known to befriend thought leaders and moguls outside technology industry. He reportedly also tried to give a seat to civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson on Twitter's board. Mckesson's candidature too faced pushback internally. The duo, Mckesson and Dorsey, are known to be friends for years.
Though the extent of Dorsey's friendship with Yousafzai is not clear, he is known to hold her in high esteem. In 2015, he promoted Malala Fund with a hashtag in his Twitter bio. In an interview to NBA star Harrison Barnes for The Players' Tribune, Dorsey named Yousafzai as one of three living people he did like to have dinner with. The other two being Kendrick Lamar and Steph Curry. In an interview to Recode in 2015, he named her when asked about the person who inspires him the most.
Earlier this year, Dorsey committed $1 billion of his equity in Square to funding around coronavirus relief, girls' health and education, and universal basic income. "I’m moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI ...," he announced in a tweet.
The move drew praise from Yousafzai. "Amazing news! Thank you, @jack , for your generosity and for recognising that educated girls make the world safer and healthier for everyone," she said in a tweet.