Blockbuster Twitter debut makes co-founders richer by over $1bn

Riding on the company's stellar market debut, Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey saw their combined fortunes soar by over one billion dollars in a single day to $3.6 billion.

Williams added over $1.07 billion to his personal fortune, while Dorsey gained close to half a billion dollars, after the company made a frenzied trading debut at New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, according to Wealth-X estimates.

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With nearly 57 million shares, Williams one-day gain was $1.07 billion, which increased his net worth to $2.55 billion. Dorsey's 23.5 million shares are now valued at $1.05 billion. He added $443 million to his wealth on the debut day.2

Besides, the company's CEO Dick Costolo became richer by around $145 million, bringing his net worth to about $345 million.

Twitter, on Thursday, made a scintillating debut on the New York Stock Exchange with its scrip climbing over 90 per cent over the issue price of $26 apiece. The shares closed at $44.90, logging a gain of 73 per cent on debut trade.

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"The markets' response to Twitter's valuation shows that it truly has become the interest graph. Twitter's IPO, combined with the increase in Facebook's valuation, illustrates social media's ability to harness advertising revenue as it continues to gain strength," Wealth-X President David Friedman said.

Twitter's public debut was the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's $16 billion offering in May 2012.

Twitter, which lets people post news and comments in 140-character messages called tweets, is yet to make a profit after seven years in existence. It has over 230 million users globally.