Starkware CEO Uri Kolodny Steps Down Due to Family Health Issues

Starkware faces a leadership transition as CEO Uri Kolodny resigns over pressing family health issues. While stepping down, Kolodny leaves the company in the hands of co-founder and friend Eli Ben-Sasson.

Starkware Sees CEO Change as Uri Kolodny Resigns, Citing Family Health

Uri Kolodny, CEO of Starkware, announced his resignation from the company’s top position due to pressing family health concerns. Kolodny, who co-founded the Ethereum scaling and privacy technology firm in 2008 with Eli Ben-Sasson, made the announcement via X.

In the announcement post, Kolodny expressed both pride in Starkware’s achievements and sorrow at stepping back from day-to-day involvement. “I am so very proud of what we’ve built. First and foremost: the people who have joined us in building Starkware and Starknet,” he wrote, acknowledging the talented team behind the company’s success. Despite stepping down as CEO, Kolodny will remain active as a board member of both Starkware and the Starknet Foundation, ensuring his continued influence in the company’s strategic direction.

Assuming the CEO role is co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson, the co-inventor of STARKs and current president of Starkware. Ben-Sasson’s appointment is a natural transition, given his deep involvement in the company’s technological advancements and long-standing partnership with Kolodny. “Eli is many wonderful things… and we have been the closest of friends for 35 years, and closer still these past six years,” Kolodny noted.

In his statement, Kolodny expressed confidence in the company’s future under Ben-Sasson’s leadership. “I am sure he will lead Starkware forward with talent and devotion, to great heights,” he remarked.

Ben-Sasson replied to Kolodny’s post on X, acknowledging and thanking Kolodny for his kind words as well as wishing him and his family well. About becoming CEO, Ben-Sasson said to Kolodny,

These are mighty large shoes I need to fill. What fills me with hope is the amazing team you leave behind, and the fact that the ethos and values of StarkWare are things we all share. Your vision will continue and stay true.

Best wishes go out to Uri Kolodny and his family. Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.