Evan Williams (Internet entrepreneur)

Evan Williams
Born	(1972-03-31) March 31, 1972 Clarks, Nebraska, U.S.
Occupation	Internet entrepreneur
Years active	1996–present
Known for	Co-founder of Twitter, Blogger, Medium; CEO of Twitter (2008–2010)

Evan Clark Williams (born March 31, 1972) is a prominent American Internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Twitter, where he held the position of CEO between 2008 and 2010 and remained a member of its board from 2007 until 2019. Additionally, Williams established both Blogger and Medium. In 2014, he co-founded the venture capital firm Obvious Ventures. As reported by Forbes in May 2025, his net worth is approximated at US$2 billion.

Early life and education

Williams was born in Clarks, Nebraska as the third child to Laurie Howe and Monte Williams. Growing up on a farm, he spent his summers assisting with crop irrigation. He enrolled at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he studied for about one and a half years and joined the FarmHouse fraternity before leaving to focus on his entrepreneurial ambitions.

Early career

Following his departure from university, Williams gained experience in technology positions and start-up ventures located in Key West, Florida, as well as Dallas and Austin, Texas. He eventually returned to his family farm in Nebraska. In 1996, he relocated to Sebastopol, California, to work with technology publisher O'Reilly Media. Initially engaged in marketing roles, he transitioned into freelance programming work, securing contracts with major companies such as Intel and Hewlett-Packard. During his time at O'Reilly, he launched EvHead.com, marking his early involvement in blogging.

Pyra Labs and Blogger

Together with Meg Hourihan, Williams co-founded Pyra Labs with the initial goal of creating project management software. One feature designed for note-taking evolved into Blogger, which became one of the pioneering web platforms for publishing and managing weblogs. Williams is credited with coining the term "blogger" and played a significant role in popularizing the word "blog." After several key team members left, Pyra Labs was acquired by Google on February 13, 2003.

In 2003, Williams was honored by MIT Technology Review’s TR100 list as one of the top 100 innovators under the age of 35. The following year, PC Magazine included him alongside Hourihan and Paul Bausch among their "People of the Year" for their contributions to Blogger’s development.

Odeo and Obvious Corporation

Williams departed from Google on October 8, 2004, to establish Odeo, a company focused on podcasting. Towards the end of 2006, he co-founded Obvious Corporation alongside Biz Stone and other former Odeo team members to take ownership of Odeo’s existing assets. In April 2007, Sonic Mountain acquired Odeo.

Twitter

One of the initiatives under Obvious Corporation was Twitter, a no-cost social networking and microblogging platform. Twitter became an independent entity in April 2007, with Williams serving as co-founder, board member, and investor. In October 2008, Williams succeeded Jack Dorsey as CEO, while Dorsey transitioned to the role of chairman.

By February 2009, Twitter had become the third most popular social network, attracting 6 million unique visitors monthly and generating 55 million visits. By February 2013, its registered user base reached 200 million, with an influx of approximately 300,000 new users each day. As of August 2015, Twitter ranked twelfth worldwide in web traffic, boasting over 300 million unique monthly visitors and exceeding five billion visits per month; notably, 75% of this traffic originated outside the Twitter website.

Williams relinquished his CEO position in October 2010 to concentrate on product strategy, appointing Dick Costolo as his replacement.

Following Twitter's IPO in 2013, the company’s valuation ranged between US$14 billion and US$20 billion.

On April 6, 2017, Williams sold nearly one-third of his Twitter shares for personal reasons. He exited the Twitter board in February 2019.

Medium

Williams introduced the publishing platform Medium on September 25, 2012. Initially available only to select early users, it opened to the general public in 2013.

On April 5, 2013, Williams and Stone announced the dissolution of Obvious Corporation to dedicate efforts toward individual startups.

On July 12, 2022, Williams stepped down as Medium’s CEO and assumed the role of chairman of the board; Tony Stubblebine was appointed as CEO.

Obvious Ventures

In 2014, Williams co-established the venture capital firm Obvious Ventures with James Joaquin and Vishal Vasishth. The firm focuses on investing in businesses that generate positive social impact. To date, it has raised roughly $585 million through three funding rounds: $123 million, $191 million, and $271 million respectively.

In 2024, Williams partnered with entrepreneur Molly DeWolf Swenson to co-found Mozi, a private social networking platform. Mozi secured $6 million in financing from investors including Obvious Ventures, WndrCo, and BBG Ventures.

Personal life

Williams lives near San Francisco with his wife Sara and their two children. He follows a vegetarian diet and has invested via Obvious Corporation in plant-based meat substitute company Beyond Meat.

Views

Williams promotes time efficiency by concentrating on fewer priorities and minimizing distractions. At the 2013 XOXO Festival, he explored Internet commerce trends, likening the Internet’s transformative impact to historic technological shifts such as agriculture while cautioning that it is not a utopia.

Responding to President Donald Trump’s assertion that Twitter influenced his election success, Williams expressed remorse if true, noting that the internet is “obviously broken because it rewards extremes.” He admitted he was mistaken in assuming that an open platform for free speech would inherently improve society. His future entrepreneurial focus includes addressing the societal effects of the Internet.