Here’s Why Patrick Stewart Rang The Opening Bell to Celebrate Twitter’s IPO


On Thursday, Twitter made its much-anticipated trading debut at the New York Stock Exchange. The social-media giant is trading under the ticker symbol “TWTR.” And when it came time to ring the opening bell, Twitter’s founders and CEO were joined by actor Patrick Stewart, Vivienne Harr (a 9-year-old girl who uses a lemonade stand to wage war on modern slavery), and Cheryl Fiandaca of the Boston Police Department.

Patrick Stewart Twitter IPO NYSE

Twitter tells Mother Jones that all three were chosen because they are awesome at Twitter. The company invited Stewart because the 73-year-old actor is pretty amazing at broadcasting his quirks and everyday life to his fans—shooting a bow and arrow, day trips, and more recently, this:

Patrick Stewart lobster Halloween costume

@SirPatStew/Twitter

Fiandaca, as the bureau chief of public information for the Boston PD, was at the helm of the department’s social-media efforts following Boston Marathon bombing in April.

And Harr has used her account to raise awareness and promote her efforts against child slavery. Here’s a statement from her father Eric:

Children have been setting up lemonade stands since time immemorial. The difference with Vivienne’s is simple: Twitter. Without Twitter, Vivienne raises $100 and reaches our local community. With Twitter, she raises $100,000 and reaches a global community. Twitter helped her moment become a movement. We believe that Twitter makes good on the long-held promise that one person can change the world. That promise burns bright in the heart of a little girl with a big dream: that all children should be free.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate