Flexport founder publicly slams his handpicked successor for hiring spree, rescinds offers

Two days after returning to run Flexport, founder Ryan Petersen said Friday that his logistics company will rescind 55 offer letters and look to lease out office space across the U.S. as it tries to get its “house in order.”

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Petersen wrote that the company “can’t just give out cash.” In reclaiming the top position at Flexport, Petersen is displacing his handpicked successor, former Amazon executive Dave Clark, a little more than a year into his tenure.

Petersen offered a harsh assessment of Clark’s growth strategy, questioning why the company had “over 200 open roles” on its website, and noting that all those have been canceled other than “a handful of roles” tied to what Petersen called the most important projects.

“I am deeply sorry to those people who were expecting to join our company and won’t be able to at this time. It’s messed up,” Petersen wrote. “But no way around it, we have had a hiring freeze for months I have no ideas why more than 75 people were signed to join.”

Flexport’s hiring page still listed more than 100 open roles as of Friday morning.

Clark’s sudden departure marked a surprising turn for a company that’s been viewed for several years as one of the hottest startups in the Bay Area. Flexport ranked 10th in CNBC’s latest Disruptor 50 list and has been valued at $8 billion by prominent venture firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

A spokesperson for the company acknowledged Friday that a number of executives were “no longer with Flexport” but declined to provide further detail on the nature of Clark’s departure, Petersen’s comments on social media, or the company’s path to profitability.

The former head of Amazon’s giant worldwide consumer business,…