New York Times-backed tech business in bizarre leadership battle as fired boss refuses to go

A billion-dollar technology business backed by the New York Times and Samsung has been caught in a bizarre leadership battle as its chief executive refuses to step down despite being fired by the company.

US technology company OpenWeb, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors, told employees on Tuesday that its founder, Nadav Shoval, was stepping down to be replaced by its chairman, Tim Harvey.

However, Mr Shoval, known as one of Israel’s top technology entrepreneurs, said he was refusing to go and that he had been removed after calling out “concerning conduct” by directors.

OpenWeb is used by websites such as the Huffington Post, Fox News and Sky Sports. It allows news publishers to manage comments on articles and collect feedback on stories, then target adverts to boost revenues. It takes a cut of advertising revenue.

“I have not stepped down as OpenWeb’s CEO,” Mr Shoval, who founded the company in Tel Aviv in 2014 before moving it to New York, wrote on LinkedIn.

“I recently notified the company that they breached my contract, which was intended to directly call out concerning conduct by the board of directors.

“Instead of addressing the issues, the board chose to announce a leadership transition at a sudden company-wide meeting, continuing to act against OpenWeb’s best interests.

“I do not accept these actions. I will continue to fight for OpenWeb’s mission and purpose alongside our team.”

Mr Shoval did not respond to a request for comment on what concerning conduct he had reported.

OpenWeb did not respond to a request for comment. It told the Israeli website Geektime: “OpenWeb welcomes Tim Harvey as interim CEO in place of Nadav Shoval. The company thanks Nadav for his passion and contribution as founder and CEO of OpenWeb.”

The company’s board includes Scott Galloway, a prominent American entrepreneur and podcast host, and Avishai Abrahami, the chief executive of Israeli software giant Wix.

The New York Times invested in the company in 2021 as part of a $150m (£115m) funding round. Other investors include the ad giant Dentsu and Lord Alliance, the Liberal Democrat life peer who formerly chaired the clothing retailer N Brown Group.

It was valued at $1.5bn in 2022 in a fundraising round led by Canadian investor Georgian Partners. The company works with around 1,000 publishers.

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