Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down from the top leadership position and transferring to a new role as chief innovation officer, the company announced Monday.
Graber, who has helped grow the X and Threads competitor to 43 million users and furthered the development of its underlying AT Protocol, will be replaced by Toni Schneider as interim CEO. Schneider, the former CEO of Automattic and a partner at True Ventures, will serve as interim CEO.
Both Automattic and True Ventures are investors in Bluesky.
In a blog post announcing the changes, Graber explained that, as a more mature company, Bluesky needs a “seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution.” Graber said she feels better suited to building Bluesky’s technology itself.
“I’m most energized by exploring new ideas, bringing a vision to life, and helping people discover their strengths. Transitioning to a more focused role where I can do what brings me energy is my way of putting that belief into practice,” Graber said.
The company says its board will search for a permanent chief executive. In the meantime, Schneider’s experience with Automattic, which commercialized WordPress’s open source technology through WordPress.com, positions him to understand the challenges that come with balancing open source tech with the needs of a company to generate a profit.
Under Graber, Bluesky has seen remarkable growth at times, particularly after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now X, led to a number of changes to the platform’s product and community. Bluesky has also struggled with moderation issues as it scaled. Some users expected the company to apply a heavier hand, while Bluesky promoted the use of moderation tools that users themselves could manage.
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