Quick Wiki
- Full Name Vijaya Gadde
- Occupation Attorney, Legal Officer
- Birthplace Hyderabad, India
Vijaya Gadde | Biography
Gadde co-founded an investment collective, #ANGELS in 2018Vijaya Gadde had worked on solving Twitter's different issues, including handling disputed Covid-19 facts and fighting a ban on the service in Turkey. She also helped Twitter add labels and warning messages for false and misleading tweets about COVID-19 and election misinformation before and after the 2020 presidential election. She was the one to have pitched a radical idea of not selling political advertisements on Twitter when an issue popped up during the 2020 United States presidential election.
Vijaya Gadde is the legal, public policy and trust, and safety head at Twitter.
Who is Vijaya Gadde?
Vijaya Gadde is an Indian-American legal expert. She started her legal career in 2000 and worked at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for nearly a decade. She then briefly worked at Juniper Networks before joining Twitter in 2011 as a legal director. She currently overlooks the legal, public policy and trust, and safety issues of Twitter.
Gadde is also a co-founder of an investment collective, #ANGELS. She also serves on boards of directors of humanitarian aid organization Mercy Corps and precision oncology company Guardant Health.
Early Life and Education
Vijaya Gadde was born in Hyderabad, India. She moved to the United States at the age of three. Gadde then grew up in Beaumont, Texas, in an area replete with racism.
Gadde graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1997. She then earned a Juris Degree from New York University School of Law in 2000.
Early Career
After receiving a law degree, Gadde began her career in October 2000 at a law firm called Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She worked at the law firm for nearly a decade. In October 2010, she started working as a senior director and associate corporate counsel on a legal team at the technology company Juniper Networks. She left the company to join Twitter.
Gadde joined Twitter in July 2011 as a director of the legal department. During that time, she oversaw general corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions, and international issues of Twitter. Two years later, she became Twitter's general counsel. Lately, she has been managing the legal, public policy and trust, and safety issues of Twitter. In October 2020, Politico described her as the "most important Silicon Valley executive you've never heard of."
As a legal, public policy and trust, and safety head, Gadde has worked on solving Twitter's different issues, including handling disputed Covid-19 facts and fighting a ban on the service in Turkey. She also helped Twitter add labels and warning messages for false and misleading tweets about COVID-19 and election misinformation before and after the 2020 presidential election.
Gadde has also played a vital role in making some of the most significant decisions of Twitter. Politico reported in October 2020 that political campaigns and Russian disinformation artists created chaos in the Twitter system through social media ads. While Twitter CEO Dorsey and Twitter executives were worried about a similar kind of mess in the 2020 United States presidential election, Gadde pitched a radical idea of not selling political advertisements on Twitter.
Convinced by her idea, Dorsey announced a global ban on political ads on Twitter on 30 October 2019. About the decision to ban political advertising, Gadde said, "It wasn't about anything other than, 'This is the right thing to do for us as a company.'"
#ANGELS
In March 2018, Gadde co-founded #ANGELS (Hashtag Angels), an investment collective focused on getting more women on the cap tables of successful startups. On 26 February 2021, the team launched a podcast, The #ANGELS Podcast, where they talk about the latest tech trends with the people inventing and shaping them in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Additional Works
In 2018, Gadde joined the board of directors of Mercy Corps, an international, non-governmental humanitarian aid and development organization that aims to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression. According to the official website of the organization, Gadde serves the joint audit and risk committee.
Gadde also serves on the board of directors of Guardant Health, a precision oncology company that provides blood tests, data sets, and analytics services for cancer patients.
She also serves on the board of trustees of NYU School of Law.
Personal Life
Gadde is married and has a daughter. She spends most of her free time with her daughter and enjoys reading fiction books, cooking, hiking, and traveling.
