Pinterest president and top business chief Tim Kendall is out
- Pinterest's president and top business executive, Tim Kendall, is leaving.
- He will be replaced by Pinterest's current SVP of ads and commerce, Jon Alferness, and continue to serve as an advisor.
- Pinterest raised $150 million in funding at a roughly $12 billion valuation earlier this year and reportedly expects to make $500 million in ad revenue for 2017.
Pinterest's longtime president and top business exec, Tim Kendall, is leaving to "start his own venture," Pinterest told Business Insider on Thursday.
His departure from Pinterest comes as the photo discovery platform reportedly expects to make roughly $500 million in ad revenue this year and mulls an eventual initial public offering. Kendall joined Pinterest six years ago and previously served as an early executive at Facebook.
"Tim has made important contributions to Pinterest and we are pleased that he will continue to serve as an advisor to the company," Pinterest said in an emailed statement. "Jon Alferness, Senior Vice President for Ads and Commerce, will now lead the world-class team driving our rapidly growing ads business. Our focus continues to be measurable and actionable results for our partners while giving Pinners relevant ideas to help them discover and do new things."
Just one day before his departure was announced, Kendall appeared at Business Insider's IGNITION conference in New York to champion Pinterest as a challenger to the Facebook-Google duopoly over the digital advertising business.
He's leaving Pinterest to launch a startup aimed at fighting tech device addition, according to Recode. Given his background working at both Facebook and Pinterest, it's an area he's well suited for.