Pinterest, Inc. announced that co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and President, Ben Silbermann will transition to the newly created role of Executive Chairman, and online commerce expert Bill Ready will become Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective June 29, 2022.
Ready is joining Pinterest from Google, where he served as President of Commerce, Payments & Next Billion Users and oversaw Google’s vision, strategy and the delivery of its commerce products. Prior to Google, Ready served in various senior leadership roles at PayPal, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
With over 400 million monthly active users, Pinterest has built a healthy advertising business that generated strong cash flow and doubled revenue during the pandemic. In addition, Pinterest has been laser-focused on putting Pinners first, continuously improving its roadmap, investing in creators, shopping and scaling internationally.
“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.”
“On behalf of the Board, I am thrilled to welcome Bill to the Pinterest team,” said Andrea Wishom, Pinterest Board Lead Independent Director. “Bill is a proven leader, whose experience in payments, product development, and shopping uniquely positions him to take Pinterest to its next phase of growth. It is a testament to the remarkable vision and leadership of Ben that we are able to welcome Bill, who shares similar values. The Board and I look forward to working with them both to accelerate Pinterest’s strategy of bringing everyone the inspiration to create the life they love.”
“There’s no better time to join Pinterest,” said Ready. “I have long admired the brand and platform that Ben and the Pinterest team have created and everything the Company stands for. I am excited to build on that foundation to further scale the Company’s ecosystem and drive increased value for shareholders. Having built multiple businesses from zero and operated at the scale of billions of users, I have a deep appreciation for what it takes to scale a business like this to the next level. I look forward to working closely with Ben, the Board and the rest of the leadership team to capitalize on the many opportunities ahead and usher in Pinterest’s next chapter of growth and success.”