# Biz Stone

> Biz Stone is the co-founder and Creative Director of Twitter, the platform that redefined public discourse. Born Christopher Isaac Stone in Boston, he dropped out of college twice, designed book covers, and walked away from $2 million in unvested Google stock to help build what became one of the most influential communication platforms in history. Beyond Twitter, he co-founded Jelly Industries (acquired by Pinterest), The Obvious Corporation with Evan Williams, and in 2024 joined the board of Mastodon's U.S. nonprofit - a quiet statement about where social media should go next. His guiding philosophy: opportunity can be manufactured.

- **Role:** Board Director at Mastodon (US nonprofit)
- **Organizations:** Twitter (co-founder), The Obvious Corporation (co-founder), Jelly Industries (co-founder), Biz and Livia Stone Foundation, Mastodon US nonprofit (board director), Medium (board member), Beyond Meat (board member), Polaroid Swing (chairman), DonorsChoose (advisor)
- **From:** Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Attended (did not graduate), Northeastern University, Chancellor's Scholarship for Excellence in the Arts (did not graduate), University of Massachusetts Boston, Honorary Doctor of Laws, Babson College, Visiting Fellow / Senior Common Room Member, Oxford University (Exeter College), Executive Fellow, UC Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Twitter, which grew to over 300 million monthly active users, Designed 'Larry the Bird', one of the most recognized logos in internet history, Named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World

## Career timeline

- **1974** — Born Christopher Isaac Stone in Boston, Massachusetts
- **early 1990s** — Dropped out of Northeastern University and UMass Boston; designed book covers for Little, Brown and Company
- **1999** — Joined Xanga as Creative Director, one of the first major blogging platforms
- **2003** — Joined Google's Blogger team after Google acquired Blogger
- **2005** — Left Google, walking away from ~$2M in unvested stock options
- **2006** — Co-founded Twitter with Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Noah Glass as Creative Director
- **2009** — Redesigned Twitter's bird logo ('Larry the Bird') with designer Philip Pascuzzo
- **2011** — Co-founded The Obvious Corporation with Evan Williams and Jason Goldman; stepped back from day-to-day Twitter role
- **2012** — Directed short film 'Evermore' in collaboration with Ron Howard and Canon USA
- **2013** — Co-founded Jelly Industries with Ben Finkel; investors included Jack Dorsey, Reid Hoffman, Al Gore, and Bono
- **2014** — Published memoir 'Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind'
- **2017** — Jelly Industries acquired by Pinterest; Stone rejoined Twitter as executive
- **2018** — Executive produced documentary 'Eating Animals' with Natalie Portman
- **2021** — Departed Twitter for the second time
- **2022** — Twitter acquired by Elon Musk for $44B; Stone's equity converted
- **2024** — Joined board of directors of Mastodon's U.S. nonprofit; began 'Keep Up The Good Work' memoir series on Medium

## Achievements

- Co-founded Twitter, which grew to over 300 million monthly active users
- Designed 'Larry the Bird', one of the most recognized logos in internet history
- Named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World
- Named Entrepreneur of the Decade by Inc. Magazine
- Named Nerd of the Year by GQ (with Evan Williams)
- Won Innovation Award from The Economist (2014)
- Received Emmy Award via Twitter platform (2015)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws from Babson College (2011)
- Visiting Fellow at Oxford University, Exeter College
- Executive Fellow at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
- Co-inventor on Twitter's key patent (U.S. Patent 9,088,532)
- Authored three books including the bestselling memoir 'Things a Little Bird Told Me'
- Founded Biz and Livia Stone Foundation supporting education and conservation in California
- Early angel investor in Square, Slack, Beyond Meat, Pinterest, and more

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Launched 'Keep Up The Good Work: My Dispatches at Early Twitter' multi-part memoir series on Medium
- **2024-11** — Documented family trip to Japan on Medium, celebrating son Jacob's birthday
- **2024-01** — Published series of personal essays on Medium including 'Flying West' about 21 years in California and 'Mental Gymnastics' about high school memories
- **2024-01** — Joined the board of directors of Mastodon's U.S. nonprofit organization
- **2024-01** — Shared 'Top Ten Cartoons' on Instagram showcasing original cartoon artwork

## Links

- Website: https://bizstone.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bizstone
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/biz
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biz/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/biz-stone
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-04