Bill Ready is the chief executive of Pinterest, the image-sharing platform known for its creative and quirky user base, whose photos of home decor, food, weddings and more comprise what the company calls the “best ideas . . . for all of life’s moments”.
When Ready took the role in June 2022, he walked into a period of upheaval for tech stocks: an advertising slump, macroeconomic turmoil, and sector job cuts. At the same time, social media companies were battling a wave of criticism from politicians and the public, who felt that they prioritised profit over safety, hooking users with algorithmically curated content curation and online popularity contests — all while harvesting their data.
Today, those fears have only intensified as platforms such as Elon Musk’s X have cut back on their moderation policies and resources, citing the imperative of free speech.