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Ellen Pao waxes philosophical in post-trial tweet storm

After her loss to venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins in a sexual-discrimination case, Pao takes to Twitter to speak her mind.

Connie Guglielmo SVP, AI Edit Strategy
Connie Guglielmo is a senior vice president focused on AI edit strategy for CNET, a Red Ventures company. Previously, she was editor in chief of CNET, overseeing an award-winning team of reporters, editors and photojournalists producing original content about what's new, different and worth your attention. A veteran business-tech journalist, she's worked at MacWeek, Wired, Upside, Interactive Week, Bloomberg News and Forbes covering Apple and the big tech companies. She covets her original nail from the HP garage, a Mac the Knife mug from MacWEEK, her pre-Version 1.0 iPod, a desk chair from Next Computer and a tie-dyed BMUG T-shirt. She believes facts matter.
Expertise I've been fortunate to work my entire career in Silicon Valley, from the early days of the Mac to the boom/bust dot-com era to the current age of the internet, and interviewed notable executives including Steve Jobs. Credentials
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Connie Guglielmo
2 min read

Ellen Pao, right, with attorney Therese Lawless after the verdict was delivered. In a series of post-trial tweets Pao said, "If we do not share our stories and shine a light on inequities, things will not change."
Ellen Pao, right, with attorney Therese Lawless after the verdict was delivered. In a series of post-trial tweets, Pao said, "If we do not share our stories and shine a light on inequities, things will not change." Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ellen Pao, who on Friday lost her gender-discrimination suit against one of the most powerful venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, took to Twitter after the verdict was announced to elaborate on the trial.

What's amazing is how few Twitter followers the woman at the center of what some are calling a watershed moment in tech history has.

Pao put out a short tweet storm to her 5,834 followers on the Twitter account she set up in 2007, two years after joining Kleiner Perkins Cauflield & Byers as a junior partner. She thanked her supporters, family and legal team and reaffirmed her decision to challenge the firm for what she had claimed was bias against her, during her seven-year tenure, for being a woman.

"If we do not share our stories and shine a light on inequities, things will not change," Pao, 45, said in a series of tweets numbered 1 through 10. "Hopefully my case will inspire the venture capital industry to level the playing field for everyone, including women and minorities."

A San Francisco jury ultimately rejected all her claims, ending the monthlong trial with a dramatic afternoon session on Friday in which Judge Harold Kahn was forced to call for a recount after a juror changed his mind on the walk back to the courtroom after the 12-member jury had reached its initial verdict.

Pao, interim CEO of social-networking and news site Reddit, left out a No. 8 in her tweet storm. That could have been a simple oversight, or it could be a nod to the juror kerfuffle and vote count. The judge required at least a 9-3 vote on each count, but there was an original 8-4 vote on a key claim, leaving some doubt about an out-and-out victory for Kleiner. The jury arrived at the required 9 votes on that claim after the judge ordered a second round of deliberations.

The following tweet, from March 14, is pinned to the top of Pao's stream: