OpenWeb, a New York startup that gives publishers tools to attract users, has a unique problem: Despite announcing a new CEO, reports are saying its co-founder CEO won't be stepping down.
On Tuesday, OpenWeb Chairman Tim Harvey emailed employees to say he would be stepping down as CEO and thanked longtime CEO Nadav Shoval for his “incredible passion,” according to CTech. Shortly after, Shoval shared his own message with employees, claiming that “the board of directors falsely announced that I was stepping down as CEO… that is not true and was not my intention.” Shoval went on to accuse the board of violating its contract.
We've reached out to Shoval. Meanwhile, Harvey reportedly sent another email to OpenWeb employees, encouraging them to ignore Shoval's memo: “We apologize to everyone who received this email. Our CEO transition process is proceeding as planned.” Shoval has also disappeared from OpenWeb's “About Us” page. (Awkward.)
OpenWeb has raised around $400 million from investors and was valued by investors at $1.5 billion in 2022.