Ryan Petersen, the founder of logistics software start-up Flexport, has returned to lead the company after chief executive Dave Clark quit the company.
Clark, a former high-flyer at Amazon only joined the San Francisco-based company in September last year as co-CEO with Petersen.
He later took over as sole CEO in March 2023. He left the company on Thursday, according to Petersen. No official reason for his departure was given.
“Founders have the right to change their mind,” Clark said in a posting on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, earlier this week.
“I came to Flexport to do big things and that’s where I believe we were headed. Today, Ryan and I discussed his desire to return to focusing on growth in the core freight business.
“In light of that, I feel that he is best suited to lead the company in that direction. As such, I will be resigning from my position at Flexport,” he added.
After his departure, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clark is considering a campaign to become governor of Texas. On X, he posted the story and said, “God Bless Texas.”
Petersen, also in a post on X, said that while the company had made a “lot of progress under Dave’s leadership”, it’s clear that “important changes are needed to sustain our growth and return to profitability”.
“Flexport sits at a crossroads where the choice is either to spend our way out of the current downturn in global logistics or pursue a path that gets us back to profitability quickly,” Petersen said.
“The board and I agree that operational excellence and profitability in the near-term is the right path.”
On Friday, Bloomberg reported that a management shake-up was already underway with Clark appointees Teresa Carlson and Darcie Henry reportedly leaving the company.
Carlson was hired at the start of this year as president and chief commercial officer for the logistics start-up. Henry joined in October 2022 as chief human resources officer. Both had previously worked at Amazon, where Clark spent much of his career before joining Flexport.
In January this year, Flexport announced it was slashing its workforce by 20% in the face of weaker markets. At the time, the company employed around 3,000 people, according to its LinkedIn page.
Flexport is one of the most prominent start-ups in the US, having raised more than $2bn in funding and notching a valuation of $8bn.
