You’ve probably seen the little blue butterfly popping up everywhere lately. It’s the "new Twitter" that isn't actually Twitter, and for a lot of people fleeing the chaos of X, it feels like a breath of fresh air. But every time a new app gets big, the same question starts floating around: who actually owns this thing? We’ve all been burned before by billionaire takeovers, so it’s only natural to wonder if who owns Bluesky Social is just another mogul waiting in the wings.
The answer is actually weirder—and more complicated—than a simple name on a deed.
Honestly, if you’re looking for a single "owner" like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, you’re not going to find one. Bluesky isn't a private playground for a lone billionaire. It’s structured as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). That’s a fancy legal way of saying the company has to prioritize its mission—building an open protocol for social media—over just making its shareholders rich.
The Jay Graber Era
Right now, the person steering the ship is Jay Graber. She’s the CEO, and she’s the one who really owns the vision of what the app has become.
Jay isn't just a suit. She’s a developer who used to work on Zcash (a privacy-focused cryptocurrency) and she has this "high agency, low ego" vibe that’s pretty rare in Silicon Valley. When Jack Dorsey first started thinking about a decentralized Twitter back in 2019, he eventually tapped Jay to lead the project.
But here’s the kicker: Jay didn’t just want to be an employee. She insisted that Bluesky be its own independent company, separate from Twitter. That turned out to be a genius move because when Musk bought Twitter, he couldn't just "shut down" Bluesky or absorb it. He eventually cut their funding, but by then, Jay had already built the walls.
Who Owns Bluesky Social: Breaking Down the Cap Table
So, if Jay is the boss, who actually put up the money? This is where the ownership gets split into a bunch of different pieces. It’s not just one person; it’s a mix of the internal team and venture capital firms who are betting on the "next big thing" in social tech.
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The Original Funding
Originally, Twitter (under Dorsey) gave Bluesky about $13 million to get off the ground. That was basically "service income" to build the AT Protocol. But today, Twitter/X has zero ownership stake. They’re totally out of the picture.
The New Investors
To keep the lights on and the servers running for 40 million-plus users, Bluesky has raised a total of around $36 million. Most of this came from a Series A round in late 2024. If you want to know who owns pieces of the company, look at these names:
- Blockchain Capital: They led the most recent $15 million round.
- Neo: A venture firm led by Ali Partovi.
- Alumni Ventures: They’re in the mix too.
- Individual Angels: People like Joe Beda (who co-created Kubernetes) and Amir Shevat.
Does this mean these VCs "own" the app? Sorta. They own shares. But because of that PBC status I mentioned earlier, they can’t just force Jay to put ads everywhere if it violates the mission of keeping the network open and decentralized.
Wait, What About Jack Dorsey?
This is the biggest misconception out there. People still think Jack Dorsey owns Bluesky.
He doesn't.
Jack was the "visionary" who started it, sure. He sat on the board for a while. But in May 2024, Jack famously deleted his account and left the board. He actually started criticizing the project, saying it was "repeating all the mistakes" Twitter made by adding moderation tools. He’s moved on to other things like Nostr.
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So, if you’re worried that Jack is pulling the strings from behind a curtain, you can relax. He’s gone.
Why Ownership Matters for Your Data
The whole point of who owns Bluesky Social being "the team" and a few investors rather than a King-of-the-Hill mogul is about "exit safety."
In a traditional social network, the company owns your handle, your followers, and your posts. If the owner decides to sell the company to a literal demon, you’re stuck. On Bluesky, the "ownership" is decentralized by design through the AT Protocol.
Think of it like email. No one "owns" email. You can have a Gmail account, but you can move your messages to Outlook if you want. Bluesky is trying to do that for social media. Even if the Bluesky Social PBC company went bankrupt tomorrow, the network itself—the "ATmosphere"—could theoretically keep running because other people can host their own servers.
The Board of Directors
Beyond Jay Graber, the board includes some heavy hitters in the "open internet" world:
- Jeremie Miller: The guy who invented Jabber/XMPP.
- Mike Masnick: The founder of Techdirt and the guy who literally wrote the "Protocols, Not Platforms" paper that inspired the whole project.
- Kinjal Shah: Representing Blockchain Capital.
This isn't a board of corporate raiders. It’s a group of people who are obsessed with the architecture of the internet.
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Can You Buy Stock in Bluesky?
Nope.
As of early 2026, Bluesky is a private company. You can’t go on Robinhood and buy "BSKY" shares. There’s been a lot of talk about how they’ll eventually make money—they’ve mentioned things like a subscription model for "premium" features (think high-def video or custom profile vibes) and charging for custom domains.
They’ve been pretty vocal about not wanting to rely on a creepy advertising model that sells your data to the highest bidder. Whether that works long-term is the $36 million question.
The Bottom Line on Ownership
So, who owns Bluesky Social?
The Bluesky team and its CEO Jay Graber hold the controlling interest, supported by a group of venture capital firms like Blockchain Capital and Neo. It’s a collective. It’s a Public Benefit Corporation. And most importantly, it's independent. It’s not a subsidiary of X, and it’s not owned by a billionaire looking for a political megaphone.
If you're looking to take your social media presence seriously on the platform, here are some actionable steps to make the most of this unique ownership structure:
- Use a Custom Domain: Since Bluesky is about "owning your identity," you can set your handle to a domain you actually own (like @yourname.com). This is the ultimate way to ensure that even if the company changes hands, you own your "brand" on the protocol.
- Explore the Feeds: Unlike other apps where one algorithm "owns" what you see, Bluesky has thousands of custom feeds. You can choose who "owns" your attention by switching between them.
- Check the Terms: Because it’s a PBC, read their mission statement. It’s legally binding in a way that most corporate "about us" pages aren't. It gives you a roadmap of what they are actually allowed to do with the platform.
The butterfly isn't just a logo; it's a sign that the people running the show want to build something that can't be easily caged by a single owner. Whether they can pull it off while staying profitable is a story that's still being written.