By Davit Kirakosyan
Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) announced that co-founder and longtime CEO Ben Silbermann is stepping down. He will transition to a newly created position of Executive Chairman of the board.
The company’s shares were trading more than 8% higher after-hours following the news.
Silbermann will be replaced by Bill Ready, who comes from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), where he had been president of commerce since 2020. Ready has also joined the board of directors.
“Building Pinterest with such a wildly talented, kind and creative team has been the gift of a lifetime,” said Silbermann. “Today, Pinterest inspires hundreds of millions of people with ideas for every aspect of their lives. We’ve built a growing global business that puts the well-being of our users at the core of everything we do. And we’re just getting started.”
Silbermann continued, “In our next chapter, we are focused on helping Pinners buy, try and act on all the great ideas they see. Bill is a great leader for this transition. He is a builder who deeply understands commerce and payments. And he shares our passion for creating a positive corner of the Internet. I’m confident he’s going to be an outstanding CEO.”