Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down. Here’s why

Bluesky, the popular alternative social media platform that rose to prominence following Elon Musk’s acquisition of X, is looking for a new CEO to guide it through a growth phase.

In a post on Bluesky’s website, Bluesky’s now-former CEO Jay Graber announced that she was stepping down from the role. Graber noted that she’s stepping back to build new products, not leaving Bluesky.

Graber will be staying with the social network as the organization’s first Chief Innovation Officer — while a more experienced CEO is found. Bluesky now has more than 40 million users.

Venture capitalist Toni Schneider, a partner at the VC firm True Ventures, will step in as temporary CEO while Bluesky searches for its next head. Schneider previously served as CEO of Automattic, the parent company of the popular blog and CMS platform WordPress.  

Graber has been with Bluesky since its early beginnings in 2019. Back then, it was a project being worked on from within Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. Bluesky eventually spun off into a standalone organization working on a decentralized platform.

She cited “several intense and incredible years building Bluesky from the ground up,” and the need for “a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution, while I return to what I do best: building new things.”

Bluesky gained traction as an alternative to Elon Musk’s X after Musk acquired then-Twitter in October 2022. Bluesky’s user base surged following the 2024 election as more liberal and progressive social media users looked for less far right online spaces, which was what Musk’s X was transforming into.

As CEO, Graber seemingly became the reluctant face of Bluesky. As Wired points out, Graber started her career as a software engineer and always seemed more enthusiastic about the tech aspects of running Bluesky, as opposed to the business side of the endeavor.

Despite this, and unlike many other tech CEOs, Graber enjoyed broad support from Bluesky’s users. For example, a shirt that Graber wore at SXSW last year that poked fun at Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg quickly sold out on Bluesky’s online store.

Graber will also play a role in choosing her successor. While the search is just beginning, Bluesky’s board of directors will ultimately appoint the social media platform’s next CEO. Members of the board include Jabber founder Jeremie Miller, TechDirt founder Mike Masnick, and Graber who will also remain on the board while also in her new role.