Jay Graber, who has led Bluesky since 2021, is stepping down as CEO. Toni Schneider will serve as interim CEO while Graber transitions to Chief Innovation Officer. The change comes as the platform, now with 43 million users, seeks to scale further.
Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform, announced that its CEO Jay Graber is stepping down after leading the company since 2021. Graber, who joined officially when Bluesky spun off as an independent entity from Twitter, guided the service through its public launch in 2023 and growth to 43 million users. The platform originated as a side project at Jack Dorsey's Twitter, ending its formal association in 2022, with Dorsey severing ties completely in 2024.
In a blog post, Graber explained the transition: "As Bluesky matures, the company needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution, while I return to what I do best: building new things." She will remain influential as Chief Innovation Officer and retain a seat on Bluesky's board, which will help select a permanent CEO.
Toni Schneider, a venture capitalist and former CEO of Automattic (WordPress's parent company), will step in as interim CEO. Schneider, also a partner at True Ventures, expressed support in a Bluesky post: "I deeply believe in what this team has built and the open social web they're fighting for."
Bluesky has established a niche in the social media landscape, though it trails Meta's Threads with fewer than a third of its users. The platform has not yet introduced significant monetization, despite past mentions of a premium subscription. Graber has been noted for advocating decentralized social media.
