Dave Wehner Leaves Meta to Join AI Startup Fireworks as Chief Financial Officer
Dave Wehner, chief strategy officer at Meta, is leaving the tech giant to join four-year-old artificial intelligence startup Fireworks as chief financial officer, he announced on X on Friday. The move marks one of the most high-profile executive departures from Meta’s leadership team as competition intensifies for veteran finance leaders in the artificial intelligence sector, CNBC reported.
Fireworks was valued at $17.5 billion during a Series D fundraising round in July. Business Insider reported that the company is in early talks to raise funds again at a possible $30 billion to $40 billion valuation.
Scaling Finances at a Smaller AI Platform
At Fireworks, Wehner will manage the company’s financial operations and scaling efforts, Chief Executive Officer Lin Qiao stated to CNBC. The startup operates an inference and model-training platform that enables developers to customize and run open models for commercial use.
“Dave told me he wanted to get back to a smaller company where he could build toward a big impact again,” Lin wrote in a LinkedIn post on Friday. “He sees AI as the defining technology shift of his lifetime and wants to help shape what comes next.”
Founded in 2022 by former employees of Meta and Google, the platform counts Nvidia and Sequoia Capital among its backers, alongside lead investors Atreides Management, Index Ventures, and TCV. Meta carries a market capitalization of approximately $1.56 trillion as of Friday’s market close.
Wehner guided Meta through explosive growth
Wehner joined Meta, then operating as Facebook, in 2012. He served as the company’s chief financial officer from 2014 through 2022 before transitioning to chief strategy officer.
“Dave helped guide Meta through tremendous growth and complexity over 14 years, and brought disciplined thinking to some of our hardest company-level decisions,” Meta Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan stated to CNBC.
Meta chief strategy officer Dave Wehner leaves to join AI infrastructure startup Fireworks as CFO https://t.co/jTty4ctIDc
Techbuzz.ai reported that during his tenure, Wehner guided the company through its explosive growth phase, multiple product pivots, and the expensive Reality Labs bet that's cost the company tens of billions.
Former employees founded Fireworks in 2022
Who founded Fireworks and when?
Former employees of Meta and Google founded Fireworks in 2022 as an artificial intelligence inference and model-training platform.
I announced earlier this week that I am leaving Meta. I am deeply grateful to Mark Zuckerberg for showing what a truly founder-led company can achieve. I am incredibly optimistic for Meta’s future. At Meta, I was able to witness the most exciting opportunities in enterprise AI.…
What was Meta’s market capitalization when the departure was announced?
Meta held a market capitalization of approximately $1.56 trillion at Friday’s market close.
Which investors backed the startup’s July fundraising round?
The Series D round was led by Atreides Management, Index Ventures, and TCV, with additional backing from Nvidia and Sequoia Capital.