Another tech founder and billionaire is off to greener pastures. Ev Williams announced he was stepping down as CEO of Medium, the online publishing platform, after nearly a decade at its helm. In his announcement, published on the website, Williams shared that a new decade of leading the platform called for “new ideas.”
Williams is an internet pioneer triple threat. A web developer by trade, he was one of the founding members of Blogger, a forefather of online content platforms, which Google acquired in 2003. In another internet life, he joined cofounders Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass to start Twitter, where he also served as chief executive.
Since 2012, Williams has been the CEO of Medium, where he is the sole founder. Williams will pass on the chief executive baton to Tony Stubblebine, an engineering whiz with whom Williams collaborated at Twitter and Odea, an early-aughts podcast company started by Williams and Glass. Stubblebine currently leads Coach.me, a coaching platform based in San Francisco, according to his LinkedIn page.
Medium has undergone many format changes over the years—experimenting with different business models, cycling through stables of writers, and launching specialized sites—with Williams leading the charge to help it keep up with the fast-changing world of online publishing.
Medium staff attempted to unionize last year, although the effort fell short on votes. Further, the development prefaced a new editorial pivot that invited a series of company departures (Williams offered staff buyouts if they would rather exit than pay witness to Medium’s head-turning evolution, instigated by a “culture memo,” penned by Williams).
In his departure announcement, Williams noted that he will continue to serve as chairman of Medium while also spending more time with friends and family. He also teased the potential launch of a “new holding company/research lab.” For now, the internet will have to wait to see what new direction or new innovation Williams chooses to follow next.
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