Meet Jay Graber: Young Female CEO of Bluesky Wears T-Shirt Troll at SXSW and Creates Her Own 'Time-Based' Bank in College
"Imagine a world without Caesars." Wearing a black T-shirt with this phrase written in Latin, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber welcomed a crowded audience at this month’s South by Southwest festival.
Graber's attire smartly alluded to a widely publicized sweater worn several months prior by the billionaire CEO of Meta. Mark Zuckerberg , the globe's second wealthiest individual. His attire displayed the slogan "EITHER ZUCK OR NOTHING," adapting the Latin phrase "Aut Cæsar aut nihil" — with his name substituted as a testament to his reputation for aggressively dominating fresh territories.
Graber's counter slogan "was our cheeky way of saying there shouldn't be just one person making all the decisions," explained Bluesky's chief operating officer Rose Wang in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
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She further stated, 'We have witnessed the outcome of a single individual seizing control of a platform in just one day.'
Issuing such a declaration at SXSW holds weight.
The seven-day event combining technology seminars, music, and cinema was when Twitter initially surfaced in 2007, kicking off its evolution into the pulse of worldwide dialogue until it ultimately grabbed the world’s notice. Elon Musk , who holds the title of the wealthiest individual globally.
In 2022, when Musk acquired Twitter and subsequently rebranded it as X, the platform became a conduit for his progressively far-right ideologies and effectively served as the main communication tool for Donald Trump’s hypothetical second presidential run. During this shift led by Musk, developers—Zuckerberg among them—swiftly developed alternative platforms.
Tech writer Mike Masnick, who penned the document that spurred the development of Bluesky, characterizes the platform as an answer to "learned helplessness." This term refers to a situation where individuals recognize issues but passively accept them because they feel powerless against controlling significant aspects of their lives due to external forces.
Initially conceived as a side project within Twitter, the endeavor later emerged as an independent entity prior to Elon Musk’s acquisition. Led by two individuals—Graber and Wang—the organization comprises roughly 20 members scattered around the world. Currently, Bluesky boasts over 30 million users and continues to expand rapidly.
An essential feature of Bluesky is that it utilizes technology enabling you to move your online identity across different applications that adopt the same tech. The company also supports developers in venturing independently.
"The idea is that if a billionaire were to take control of Bluesky, everybody could simply depart and create an alternative called Greensky instead," explained Wang.
This represents a crucial difference when compared to major platforms controlled by capricious billionaires (X and Meta) or allegedly influenced by foreign governments (as claimed about TikTok, which could get banned in the US). Currently, especially in the US, the service attracts left-leaning users seeking refuge from X's perceived toxicity and right-wing bias.
All you need to learn about Bluesky CEO, Jay Graber.
Her name means "Blue sky" in Mandarin
Lantian "Jay" Graber was born in 1991 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father, a mathematics educator, and his mother, who had Chinese ancestry and practiced acupuncture, raised him.
Graber's first name, Lantian, means "blue sky" in Mandarin, her mother's native language. Graber's mum grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution and emigrated to the United States in the 1980s.
During a 2023 interview with Forbes, Graber disclosed that her mother chose her name so she could enjoy "unlimited freedom" and have "opportunities that she herself did not possess."
In 2021, Graber was offered the opportunity to lead a social media startup called Bluesky. There is merely coincidental similarity between Graber and the platform’s name.
In her college days, she established an alternate currency bank.
Graber’s fascination with a “decentralized” system began during her teenage years when the Occupy Wall Street movement introduced her to the concept of direct democracy. She pursued higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor's degree in Science, Technology, and Society. While interning in China at the age of 34, Graber came across Bitcoin, a digital currency enabling peer-to-peer financial transactions without banking intermediaries.
In her final year, Graber received a US$1,000 grant and helped establish the Penn Time Bank, a system where students trade services utilizing hours as a form of payment instead of money.
Serving as the CEO of Bluesky
Upon completing her studies at university, Graber served as a software engineer for firms like Skuchain and Zcash. In 2019, she established Happening, a social media application aimed at enabling users to “coordinate, plan, and savor gatherings.”
Graber has served as the CEO of Bluesky since December 2021. As per her LinkedIn profile, Bluesky aims to provide creators with autonomy outside platforms, offer developers the liberty to innovate, and give users options for their experiences.